By Mike Murphy

Mikyla Grant-Mentis of the Buffalo Beauts is the VEDA Player of the Week.

The Buffalo Beauts' newest star made a big first impression in her NWHL debut on Saturday, Feb. 29 against the Metropolitan Riveters. 

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The Merrimack Warriors' all-time leading scorer buried her first NWHL goal at the 8:47 mark of the second period. Grant-Mentis' highlight-reel goal rallied her teammates, helping the Beauts come back from a 2-0 deficit. She also led Buffalo with five shots on goal and 15 faceoff wins in her team's 5-2 loss.

On Sunday, Grant-Mentis played a direct hand in the Beauts' 3-1 victory in the final game of the 2019-20 NWHL regular season. She earned honors as the first star of the game for picking up the primary assist on captain Corinne Buie's game-winning goal before scoring the first power-play goal of her NWHL career in the final minute of regulation, closing the door on the Riveters' bid for a comeback.

Grant-Mentis finished her first weekend of NWHL hockey with three primary points, 60.97 FO% (25-16), eight shots on goal and two drawn penalties. She and the Beauts will look to carry the momentum from Sunday's win into Friday's Play-In game against the Connecticut Whale, which kicks off the 2020 NWHL Isobel Cup Playoffs. 

With a win, the Beauts would punch their own ticket to an Isobel Cup Semifinal showdown with the 23-1-0 Boston Pride, bringing them one step closer to a fifth consecutive trip to the Isobel Cup Final. Tickets for Friday's game, which begins at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Northtown Center at Amherst, game are available at beauts.nwhl.zone/tickets.

THE VEDA NWHL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK FOR 2019-20

October 8: Lenka Čurmová, Beauts

October 15: Lexie Laing, Pride

October 22: Lovisa Selander, Pride; Brooke Stacey, Beauts

October 31: Sydney Baldwin, Whitecaps

November 19: Kelsey Neumann, Beauts

November 26: Taylor Accursi, Beauts

December 3: Sam Walther, Riveters

December 10: Kendall Cornine, Riveters; Alyssa Wohlfeiler, Pride

December 17: Audra Richards, Whitecaps

December 24: Allie Thunstrom, Whitecaps

December 31: Madison Packer, Riveters

January 7: Amanda Leveille, Whitecaps; Sam Walther, Riveters

January 14: Kendra Broad, Whale

January 22: Amanda Boulier, Whitecaps; Mallory Souliotis, Pride

January 30: Allie Thunstrom, Whitecaps

February 18: Kate Leary, Riveters

February 25: Amanda Boulier, Whitecaps; Lovisa Selander, Pride

March 5: Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Beauts

Photo Credit: Kate Frese