The Metropolitan Riveters played the Buffalo Beauts for the first time this season in a two-game matchup this past weekend. It was also the first time the NWHL held an outdoor game. And also the first time they sold one out.
With over 1,200 people in attendance and almost 5,000 additional people watching a record-breaking Twitch stream during the first-ever Buffalo Believes Classic, the Riveters beat the home team 7-4. This was despite the Beauts’ leading scorer, Taylor Accursi, tying the game up late in the third period with her fourth goal of the game. This is the second time this season she has had a third period hat trick.
Then, on Sunday back at the Beauts normal home rink, the Riveters took game two of the series 6-3. This despite three-match penalties being handed out.
Game Summaries
The matchups between the Beauts and Riveters are always extremely competitive, fast-paced, and physical games. They have easily built the league’s first rivalry and proved that in Buffalo this weekend. Despite the large turnover in players this offseason, both teams showed up with something to prove and did not back down from the rivalry.
In fact, in a shocking twist, the Riveters signed two former players thought to be in retirement ahead of the matchup. Former Riveters’ captain, an Isobel Cup champion, Ashley ‘Stretch’ Johnston signed with the team on a PTO for just the two games in the Buffalo Believes Classic. Additionally, Kelly Nash also re-signed with the team. These signings eased the defensive-mind’s of the Riveters and brought forth some old rivalry feelings.
“Year over year, the one thing you can expect from them is a good, gritty, grind it out game. They’re big, they like to play physical. It’s a tough game,” Riveters’ captain, Madison Packer said following Saturday’s game. In this game she had two goals, and overall a seven-point weekend.
Little did she know at that point, the following day would result in enough ‘gritty physicality’ which resulted in an ejection of one of her teammates.
While tensions escalated throughout the weekend, it all came to a head when Iveta Klimasova was ejected from the game after illegal contact to the head on a cross-check to Colleen Murphy of the Riveters. Just a few minutes later, Brooke Baker retaliated but was only given a minor penalty.
In the following period, Tatiana Shatalova, the youngest player ever to suit up in the NWHL was ejected along with Buffalo’s Nikki Kirchberger for fighting. In a post-game interview, Beauts’ head coach Pete Perram spoke to the physicality of the game. “When you get games that are back to back, you run the risk of that,” he said. “Ultimately we have to play smart. It was a tough physical game.”
In the end, the Riveters did come away with a sweep. And except for the fighting majors handed out, were able to stay out of the box. As a result, the box score for a lot of players seemed to look a lot better.
Looking Ahead
The Riveters are out of the tough part of their schedule. They will play ten of their remaining eleven games at home, and only have two games left against the undefeated Pride. Sitting just one point behind Buffalo in the standings, their four remaining matchups will be very important.
After a lopsided beginning of the season, I predicted if the Riveters could get to the halfway point of their season at about .500, they would be in good shape for the playoffs. Currently, they are 6-7 and can easily make up for their losses with a long homestand ahead.
As for their next games, the Riveters will host the Minnesota Whitecaps this coming weekend. This after four games of only seeing them on the road. The games will be at 7:30 EST on Saturday and 4:30 EST Sunday. Each will be streamed on the NWHL Twitch channel.
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