Taking advantage of a perpetual power play in the closing minutes of the game, the Seattle Torrent scored two goals to beat the New York Sirens 2-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday night.
When New York’s Kristyna Kaltounkova was given a five-minute major and a misconduct for a hit from behind at the 16:01 mark of the 3rd period, Seattle took full advantage. Having trailed 1-0 since early in the first period, the Torrent were finally able to find enough offense to win. They unleashed it during the perpetual 5-on-4 that came as a result of the major penalty.
Seattle’s Alex Carpenter, who spent the last two seasons with the Sirens and is that club’s all-time leading scorer, tied the game against her former mates at 18:36 with the 20th goal of her PWHL career. Torrent captain Hilary Knight scored the game winner 22-seconds later.
Hannah Bilka assisted on both goals.
“You saw in the third period that when we get to our principles of playing fast and playing direct, we’re hard to handle,” Torrent head coach Steve O’Rourke said after the win.
Rookie goaltender Hannah Murphy made 23 saves to pick up the first win of her career and became the 2nd ever PWHL goalie to win her first ever start.
“It was an awesome experience, starting in the locker room with all the girls being so supportive, and then coming out to the Seattle fanbase was unbelievable and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Murphy said postgame. “To cap it off with the win was awesome.”
A crowd of 8,622 enjoyed the victory. The Torrent are off until December 17th when they host the Ottawa Charge.
Earlier PWHL:
— Popular Seattle Torrent Look For Their First Win
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Blessed With Practice
