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PHF

PHF Goals of Week: Jan. 22-23

The one where the teddy bears went flying.

Just one week away from the All-Star break, the PHF showed up with lots of good games and goals to solidify the standings and get some extra tallies on the board to prove their first half worth. Here’s what I think were the best of the weekend:

The Whitecaps headed to Buffalo where they had a 3-1 victory on Saturday, but not without the Beauts taking the early lead with this goal by Claudia Kepler, her first of the season.

At the same time, the Boston Pride were hosting the Riveters where Madison Packer made history with an assist to Emily Janiga on their lone goal of the game. It was Packer’s 100th career point in the PHF, making her only the second player in league history to reach that feat right behind Jillian Dempsey who, spoiler alert, is featured next in this list.

It was a pretty sick backwards pass from behind the net to Janiga who had it right in front, unguarded. The Riveters still went on to lose 3-1 but this goal was surely epic. So epic, that Packer’s wife and Riveters GM, Anya Packer celebrated so hard she broke her wedding ring.

In the same game, Jillian Dempsey had not one, but two shorthanded goals, assisted by McKenna Brand, this second one being a tie-breaker with less than a minute to go in the game. There’s a reason why she is such a legend and here it is.

I never thought I’d include an empty net goal in one of my lists but this one needs to be mentioned as it is a special one. Pride defender, Kaleigh Fratkin took to Twitter earlier in the week to share that her father passed away recently and this would be her first game without him there or streaming the game. She ended the game with an empty net goal from 185 feet away, I’m sure dedicating it to her father.

On Sunday, these teams faced off again and things went a little bit differently...and included a lot more teddy bears.

Allie Thunstrom kicked it off here with her third goal of the weekend, marking an incredible series for the Minnesota star.

Jonna Curtis also put one on the board for the Whitecaps in their 6-1 win over Buffalo. This one was shorthanded, with the ultimate dangle moves.

Buffalo was only able to get one goal on the board in this game, however it was an important one. This was their teddy bear toss game so as soon as the light went on for this Autumn MacDougall goal, the teddy bears went flying. Definitely one of my favorite hockey traditions ever.

Across the country, at the same time, the Riveters were able to even out the weekend series, winning over the Boston Pride 4-3.

The Whale and Six games set for this weekend were postponed, but there will be some representation from all the teams next weekend as the All-Star Showcase takes place in Buffalo and available to stream on ESPN+.

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