BERNDTSSON BACKSTOPS BEAUTS TO VICTORY ON PRIDE NIGHT

The Beauts brought the fireworks on the team’s Pride Night, securing a 4-1 victory over the Metropolitan Riveters at Northtown Center.

The first star of the game was Beauts goaltender Lovisa Berndtsson, who had a night to remember in the crease. Berndtsson made 41 saves and backstopped her team to their second win of the season. Riveters goaltender Eveliina Makinen made 12 saves in the loss.

It didn’t take long for the Beauts power play to get going on Saturday night. With Metropolitan’s Ebba Berglund in the box for body-checking, Buffalo needed just nine seconds on the PP to get the first goal of the game. Whitney Dove picked up a pass from Antonia Matzka at the blue line and let lose one of her signature one-timers from the point, cleaning beating Mäkinen to make it 1-0 Beauts 7:26 into the first frame.

Buffalo doubled its lead just about 10 minutes later at approximately the same spot on the ice. Jessica Healey took the puck and let loose a shot from the left point that took a funny bounce on the ice, sailing past Mäkinen to make it 2-0.

The Riveters responded quickly after Healey’s goal, needing just 30 seconds to pull within a goal. Minttu Tuominen fired a puck from the right point past a screened Berndtsson, giving Buffalo a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

After Tuominen’s goal, Berndtsson shut down anything and everything that the Riveters threw at her, making save after jaw-dropping save. While Berndtsson put on a clinic at one end of the ice, her teammates put on a show at the other end with a gorgeous short-handed goal midway through the second period.

With the Riveters on a power play, Mikyla Grant-Mentis collected a lose puck on the penalty kill and raced up the ice with Courtney Maud. Grant-Mentis sent a quick pass over to Maud, who threw the puck on net. Mäkinen made the initial save, but Maud threw on the brakes and was able to collect her own rebound, shoveling it past the goaltender to restore the Beauts two-goal lead with a shorthanded goal.

The Riveters simply could not solve Berndtsson for the rest of the night, though they threw everything but the kitchen sink at her. The Beauts penalty kill also went back to work, successfully shutting down two Rivs power plays in the third frame.

Still down two, Metropolitan pulled its goalie with a full five minutes on the clock, but it didn’t do the visitors any good. Madison Packer took a penalty with just over four minutes left, and the Riveters pulled their goalie again to get five skaters back on the ice. That opened the door for Claudia Kepler to score her seventh goal of the season, sealing the win with the empty-net goal.

The two teams will clash again on Sunday afternoon with the puck dropping on the team’s Mental Heath Awareness game. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at https://beauts.goigniter.com/.

About the Buffalo Beauts

The Buffalo Beauts are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York and competing in the Premier Hockey Federation (formerly the National Women’s Hockey League). The Beauts are one of the Founding Four teams that stepped on the ice in 2015 and the 2017 Isobel Cup Champions. The team is owned and operated by NLTT Hockey Ventures. Visit beauts.nwhl.zone to learn more.

About the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)

The PHF is the leading home of professional women’s hockey in North America. Established in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021 and maintains the mission to provide strong role models and fuel the continued growth of the sport. The league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force and the Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup.