A major penalty turned Wednesday’s game on its head, giving the Seattle Torrent a chance to not only tie a game in which they’d trailed throughout but secure their first-ever victory.
“When we heard that it was a five-minute major, we were going for the win,” alternate captain Alex Carpenter said.
Carpenter and Seattle captain Hilary Knight scored 22 seconds apart in the last 1 1/2 minutes of the game to queue up the Torrent’s previously unknown goal song — “Misery Business” by Paramore — back-to-back for a 2-1 win.
Of the two new Professional Women’s Hockey League expansion teams, Seattle (1-1-1) was the one built with offense at the forefront. The Torrent dropped three goals on the Vancouver Goldeneyes in their first game Nov. 21, though they lost in overtime. They followed that up with Friday’s 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Frost in front of a record-setting crowd at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Frost are the two-time defending PWHL champions, so that one was understandable and maybe even expected. Wednesday’s opponent, the New York Sirens, have finished last each of the past two seasons.
The crowd was nearly halved from the home opener to 8,622, and the Torrent looked to be in real danger of being shut out again in front of their new home fans.
The Torrent spent the final 3:59 of the game on the power play. New York’s Kristýna Kaltounková sent Seattle’s Anna Wilgren into the boards and drew a major penalty for checking from behind. The major designation meant it wasn’t canceled out when Carpenter tied the game with 1:24 remaining.
Carpenter played two seasons in New York and was a finalist for the PWHL’s inaugural MVP award in 2024. The Sirens left Carpenter, a two-time American Olympian, unprotected as the exclusive free-agent signing window for the expansion teams opened. She signed a one-year deal with Seattle.
“When you play your former team, you always have a chip on your shoulder,” Carpenter said. “But it was just great to be able to do that for our fan base here.”
The veteran-heavy line that had scored two of Seattle’s three goals to date had some of its best chances through two periods Wednesday as well. Carpenter whacked at a puck on the doorstep and Knight saw her 2-on-1 chance absorbed by New York goaltender Kayle Osborne (18 saves).
Second-year pro Julia Gosling, the third member of that line, earned an assist on Knight’s goal. Hannah Bilka picked up helpers on both power-play strikes. Gosling (two goals), Knight (one) and Bilka (one) are tied for the team lead with three points apiece.
Just 3:15 into the game — and Torrent goaltender Hannah Murphy’s pro debut — New York was peppering the 22-year-old netminder. Sirens forward Paetyn Levis was in the right spot, and she made it 1-0.
It certainly could have been worse than 1-0 by the third period. A heads-up play from Seattle penalty-killer Lexie Adzija prevented a dangerous chance. Murphy (23 saves) flopped and dived to keep the deficit manageable and had the fans behind her chanting her name, starting in the second period.
“Honestly, I had chills,” Murphy said. “Just the support from the fan base from Day 1 has been unreal.”
Torrent alternate captain Emily Brown wrapped an arm around Sirens forward Sarah Fillier on a breakaway. She kept Fillier from getting a shot off but drew a well-deserved penalty. New York didn’t score on the ensuing power play but hit the goal post, as it did during an earlier man advantage.
The Torrent had 1 1/2 minutes of 4-on-3 power-play time to work with in the third period, which opened up some ice but amounted to nothing.
“We’re still finding who we are, and you started to see a glimpse,” coach Steve O’Rourke said. “And I said in between periods — when three of us out of five are on the same page, we’re all right. When we get four on the same page, we’re starting to look good.
“And when we get five on the same page, we’re going to be really tough to play against.”
Corinne Schroeder’s new Torrent mask finally came in, but it will debut at a later date. She backed up Brown from the bench, in a baseball cap. O’Rourke alluded to “sickness” in the locker room, but not in direct reference to Schroeder.
Schroeder was in net for each of the first two games and stopped 45 of 52 shots. Each game had at least one goal she certainly wants back.