International Ice Hockey Federation

Beauts stun Pride, 3-2

Beauts stun Pride, 3-2

McLaughlin stops 60 shots in Isobel Cup win

Published 20.03.2017 04:02 GMT-5 | Author Andrew Podnieks
Beauts stun Pride, 3-2
Buffalo becomes the second team ever to win the Isobel Cup National Women's Hockey League championship. Photo: Troy Parla / NWHL
Brianne McLaughlin was all-world on Sunday night, as she backstopped the Buffalo Beauts to a shocking 3-2 win over the Boston Pride to win the Isobel Cup.

McLaughlin faced 62 shots on the night and stopped all but two to give Buffalo a stunning upset at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Last year it was the Pride who came out on top in the best-of-three series, but despite having seven National Team players the Pride couldn’t win tonight.

"I was trying not to think about the shutout. I was just trying to win," McLaughlin said after the game. "Unbelievable. I couldn't ask for anything more."

McLaughlin announced her retirement after the game.

The Beauts built a 3-0 lead through the first half of the game, and then McLaughlin took over. Boston outshot Buffalo by a staggering 47-3 count over the final two periods, but the Beauts’ goalie was miraculous.

Buffalo jumped to a 2-0 lead in the opening period thanks to goals from Megan Bozek just 1:44 into the game and Emily Janiga at 13:01.

Bozek and captain Emily Pfalzer are the only two Beauts named to the U.S. National Team while Boston’s roster included Brianna Decker, Amanda Pelkey, Meghan Duggan, Gigi Marvin, Hilary Knight, Kacey Bellamy, and Alex Carpenter.

Corrine Buie made it 3-0 at 8:25 of the second on a nice backhand, but it wasn’t until 15:33 of the third that Boston got on the board thanks to a goal from Carpenter. Hilary Knight made it a 3-2 game with only four seconds remaining, but that was far too little too late on this night.

This was the second year of play in the NWHL. The Beauts were 6-10-1 during the regular season while Boston won its first 16 games, including five straight wins over Buffalo.

Buffalo beat the New York Riveters 4-2 on Friday to advance to Sunday night’s finals while Boston hammered the Connecticut Whale by an 8-2 count on Thursday.

 

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