The four iterations of Madison Square Garden have hosted entertainment spectacles for New Yorkers since 1879, but none like the PWHL Seattle Torrent were part of on Saturday.
An MSG sellout of 18,006, a new U.S. attendance record for women’s hockey, watched the New York Sirens beat the Torrent in a shootout, 2-1. The self-dubbed “World’s Most Famous Arena” had never before hosted a women’s pro hockey game.
It’s the third time in their inaugural season that the Torrent have played in front of a record-setting crowd. The first two times came at Climate Pledge Arena: 16,014 on Nov. 28 against the Minnesota Frost, topped by the 17,355 on Feb. 27 vs. the Toronto Scepters.
“Having all these sold-out games in Seattle and now at MSG just shows how much growth the game has had, and how many new fans we have every week,” said Torrent alternate captain Alex Carpenter, who scored in regulation and in the shootout.
Billie Jean King Serves Up The Puck
Tennis legend and women’s sports advocate Billie Jean King dropped the ceremonial first puck. King was joined by her spouse, Ilana Kloss, also a groundbreaking women’s tennis pro. Both King and Kloss are PWHL advisory board members.
The game sold out weeks ahead of time, as Team USA winning gold at the Winter Olympics in February has boosted interest in women’s hockey. The Torrent boast four members of Team USA, including Carpenter, captain Hilary Knight, and Cayla Barnes. The fourth, Hannah Bilka, is injured and out for the season.
According to a PWHL press release, “The league is on pace to surpass one million ticketed fans in a single season later this month, with ticket sales pacing more than 70% ahead of last season.”
Mayhem At The Garden
Mikyla Grant-Mentis returned for the Torrent after five games on LTIR. She was rudely welcomed back late in the 1st period by New York’s Emmy Fecteau. An illegal elbow to the grill sent Grant-Mentis to the ice.
As play continued, Knight appeared to give Seattle a 1-0 lead on a feed from Barnes. But play had been whistled because of a growing scrum where Grant-Mentis fell. Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová had come to the aid of her teammate. (Grant-Mentis, though slow to rise, would be okay.)
Fecteau was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a hit to the head. It took Seattle all five minutes of their power play and five seconds more for Carpenter to break the Torrent on top 1-0 in the 2nd period. In a bit of Broadway showmanship, Carpenter raised an index finger to her mouth to “Shhh” the pro-Sirens crowd.
Carpenter has scored three of her team-leading 10 goals this season against her former club. The 10 goals also move Carpenter into a tie for 5th in the league. She’s the third in PWHL history to reach 60 career points.
Torrent Can’t Reach Finish Line
Sarah Fillier tied the game for New York with 3:35 remaining. Eight of Fillier’s nine goals have come in her last seven games. Torrent goalie Corinne Schroeder had stopped the first 27 Sirens shots.
Siren Anne Cherkowski skated over all three lines in the last minute of overtime, then dipsy-doodled around Carpenter. Schroeder got only a piece of her shot, but Carpenter recovered and cleared the puck off the goal line.
Torrent-Sirens Game Notes
** New York won the shootout, 2-1, behind goals by Fillier and defender Maja Nylén Persson. Carpenter scored the only Torrent shootout goal, but was stopped on her second attempt in the 5th and final round.
** The Torrent killed both Sirens power plays. Seattle is a perfect 19-for-19 on the PK over their last eight games.
** Schroeder, who was outstanding, stopped Maddi Wheeler on a late 2nd period breakaway, the best of her 37 saves. Schroeder knows the Sirens well, having played for them the last two seasons.
** Seattle lost for the 11th time in 12 road games.
** The Sirens-Torrent game was part of a day-night hockey doubleheader at MSG. The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the matinee. Most Sirens home games are played at Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils.
Earlier Torrent:
— Torrent And Knight; Not A Novelty, It’s A Movement
