Sign in Subscribe
PHF

Behind the Glass: No one can stop Poulin and Bettez

Les Canadiennes’ dynamic duo has been outstanding this year

It’s time for another installment of Behind the Glass — our weekly column collecting stories, stats, trends, and observations from the world of professional women’s hockey.

  • Amanda Kessel set an NWHL record with her five assist game against the Connecticut Whale on Jan. 6. Thanks to her unforgettable night in Stamford, Kessel is now second all-time in assists recorded with the Riveters franchise. She has 31 assists in 18 games in her NWHL career./
  • Audra Richards and Maddie Elia now share the NWHL goal lead with eight goals each. Richards scored two of the Riveters’ six goals against the Whale. She has scored six of the Riveters’ last 14 goals and has 22 shots in her last five games. It’s also worth noting that Richards is still searching for her first assist in the NWHL and is one of three players in the league with two power play goals this season.
  • Thanks to her four-point game against the Whale on Sunday, Madison Packer now has nine points in 11 games this season with the Riveters. Packer is now fourth all-time in NWHL points and second all-time in NWHL goals. If she scores three more goals this season, she will surpass Brianna Decker to become the NWHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
  • Maria Sorokina stopped 18 of the 21 shots she faced on Jan. 6 to become the first Russian goaltender to win an NWHL game. With Sorokina’s victory, goalies from six different nations have started a game in the NWHL.  For comparison, goaltenders from seven different nations have appeared in a CWHL regular season game to date.
  • Katerina Mrázová now has four multi-point games this season. Last season, Amanda Boulier led the Whale with three multi-point games.
  • Before Saturday’s game against the Pride, Kelly Babstock played in four-consecutive games where she registered a single shot on goal. On Saturday, she put 10 shots on net and finally scored her first goal as a Buffalo Beaut. Babstock is third all-time in goals among active NWHL players.
  • The Buffalo Beauts are 4-1-0 in their last five games. They have outscored the opposition 18-5 in that span. This weekend, Buffalo will cross sticks with the Metropolitan Riveters for the first time since the 2018 Isobel Cup Final.
  • Jillian Dempsey and Kiira Dosdall are the only two players in the league who have played in every regular season and postseason game that their respective franchises have played since the NWHL’s inaugural season. As of today, Dosdall leads all NWHLers with 62 career regular season games.
  • Nik Fattey has left his role as the Beauts’ general manager and interim assistant coach. This news comes just one month after Fattey fired coaches Ric Seiling and Craig Muni. Because the Beauts are independently owned, Fattey was the NWHL’s only “true” general manager./
  • It’s hard to believe, but the 11:55 that Brittany Ott played against the Buffalo Beauts last Saturday was her first action of the season. The NWHL’s all-time winningest goaltender has yet to earn a start this season. Looking ahead, the Pride have no back-to-back games remaining in their schedule.
  • Brianne Jenner’s three-goal weekend against the Markham Thunder has put her within striking distance of joining the CWHL’s 50-goal club. There are only 13 players in CWHL history with 50 or more goals. Jenner has 45 and Rebecca Johnston, her teammate on the Inferno, has 48. /
  • The two active players who are closest to joining the CWHL’s 50-goal club are Carolyne Prévost of the Toronto Furies and Jess Jones of the Markham Thunder — both have 49 goals in their CWHL careers. Prévost scored on Saturday against Les Canadiennes, her first CWHL team.
  • Rebecca Johnston kept her point streak rolling for the Calgary Inferno last weekend, even though Brianna Decker was out of the lineup due to her responsibilities as an assist coach with USA’s U-18 team. Johnston now has points in eight-straight games for the Inferno. She is clear and away Calgary’s top scorer with 28 points this season.
  • Marie-Philip Poulin has now played in eight-consecutive games where she has had two or more points. The streak dates back to Nov. 25. In that span, Poulin has scored at least one goal in each game and has amassed 19 total points. It’s simply amazing./
  • Not to be out-done by her teammate, Ann-Sophie Bettez’s point streak now stands at 12 games. Bettez hasn’t been kept out of the box score by an opposing team since before Halloween. She and Poulin share the CWHL point lead with 32 points each through 17 games.
  • The Worcester Blades scored two power play goals in the third period against the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays on Jan. 6. It was just the second time this season that the Blades have scored more than one goal in a game. Last season, as the Boston Blades, they scored two or more goals 14 times.
  • Noora Räty’s 15-save shutout against the Blades on Jan. 5th was only her second clean slate of the year. Last season, she had six shutouts for Kunlun Red Star. Räty is now just two goals shy of the 31 goals she allowed in 2017-18 and there are 10 games left in the season.
  • Lara Stalder, the SDHL’s most dynamic forward, is out for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. Per Meredith Foster of The Ice Garden, Stalder’s injury means that Denise Altmann’s temporary return to action for Linköping will now last the remainder of the season./
  • Djurgårdens IF has the three-highest scoring teenagers in the SDHL. Hanna Olsson has 28 points in 26 games, Sofie Lundin has 16 points in 28 games, and the 5-foot-9 Josefin Bouveng has 17 points in 21 games — 10 of which are goals. This is Bouveng’s second season in the SDHL. She had 12 points in 33 games last season with Djurgården.
  • Romy Eggiman, 23, is on pace for a career year with Ladies Team Lugano in the SWHL. Through 10 games, Eggiman has 12 goals and 12 assists to lead the Swiss League in scoring. Her previous career best in a single season was the 33 points — 10 of which were goals — she had last year.
  • Fanni Gasparics, who spent the last five years in the ZhHL, has been a force of nature in her return to the EWHL this year. The 23 year-old forward has 38 points in eight games this season with KMH Budapest to lead the EWHL in scoring. She is undoubtedly the most talented Hungarian in hockey./

Behind the Glass: Which U.S. states do NWHL players come from?

Read next

Comments ()