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 Minnesota Whitecaps

Allie Thunstrom's Natural Hat Trick Leads Whitecaps Past Whale

December 21, 2019 - Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)
Minnesota Whitecaps News Release


Tonight, the Minnesota Whitecaps picked up two big points on the road at the expense of the Connecticut Whale. Goaltenders Brooke Wolejko and Amanda Leveille both had fantastic games, but the first star of the night was undoubtedly Allie Thunstrom. Her natural hat trick in the third period led the charge for Minnesota in their 3-0 victory.

After a scoreless first period in which the Whale were able to out-shoot the visiting team, the Whitecaps found a way to turn up the heat in the second. A Taylor Marchin penalty left Whale head coach Colton Orr with just three defenders to use on the penalty kill with Jordan Brickner and Erin Hall out of the lineup. Minnesota came close to finding the first goal of the game on a few chances on the power play, but Wolejko rose the occasion.

Although the Whale successfully killed off that penalty, there was a noticeable shift in the momentum and the Whitecaps finally got rolling. Thunstrom nearly broke the scoreless tie before the end of the second period after she broke away from the puck after a beautifully executed toe drag, but Wolejko answered the bell with two quick saves to keep the game even at 0-0 before the end of the second period.

Finally, at the 2:34 mark of the third period, the Whitecaps broke through. Audra Richards, the NWHL's reigning VEDA Player of the Week, fired a puck on net on the rush and the rebound deflected into the net off of a charging Thunstrom. Just a few minutes later, Thunstrom's speed proved to be a factor again when she picked off a pass by the Whale on their first power play of the game and beat Wolejko on the subsequent breakaway. That breakaway goal was Minnesota's third shorthanded goal of the 2019-20 season.

"We started the game very slow, making bad decisions and losing the little battles all over the ice," Whitecaps co-head coach Ronda Engelhardt said after the game. "We came out in the second period with speed and were getting pucks to the net but couldn't score. Thankfully some bounces went our way and we found the back of the net in the third period."

Eventually, Thunstrom capped off her natural hat trick by burying the puck into the empty net in the final moments of regulation. The Whitecaps celebrated around Leveille, who earned her first shutout of the season and the third shutout of her NWHL career by blanking the Whitecaps. With tonight's game the Whitecaps improved to a record of 6-3-2 to take sole possession of second place in the regular season standings.

The Whale will host the Whitecaps again tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Danbury Ice Arena. Tickets for that game are available now at whale.nwhl.zone/tickets and the game will be streamed live and free on the NWHL on Twitch.

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