LAVAL, Que. — New York Sirens head coach Greg Fargo isn’t surprised, nor does he think anybody should be.
Sarah Fillier is just that good.
This year’s top draft pick scored her first two Professional Women’s Hockey League goals and assisted on the winner to lead New York past the Montreal Victoire 4-1 on Wednesday.
Fillier, a 24-year-old from Georgetown, Ont., is off to a hot start to her PWHL career with two goals and three assists in two games.
"I don't know that there's a person around the hockey world that didn't think she'd have the ability to come in and dominate,” Fargo said. “She's been doing it at a high level on the world's biggest stage for a long time now.
“Sarah was ready for this challenge, for the next level.”
Fillier produced 30 goals and 13 assists in 29 games for Princeton in the NCAA last season. She’s also a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medallist with Canada who scored eight goals at the 2022 Games.
So far in the PWHL, she’s doing damage alongside an American star. Fillier and Alex Carpenter have formed a must-see duo.
Fillier set up Carpenter twice, including a highlight-reel saucer pass, in New York’s season-opening win over the defending champion Minnesota Frost.
On Tuesday, Fillier received the puck behind the net late in the third and quickly spun to make a no-look pass to Carpenter in the slot. Carpenter made no mistake and beat Desbiens to put the Sirens up 2-1.
"It starts with Carpenter's ability to see the ice,” Fargo said of their chemistry. “A tendency of hers is she gets a lot of pucks in the defensive zone and in the middle of the ice, and Fillier is so great at anticipating when to move and when to go.
“The other thing that Sarah does really well is just she gets lost in the offensive zone, you can lose track of her pretty quickly.”
The Victoire were well aware of the challenge Fillier and Carpenter presented, but couldn’t stop them anyway.
"They had success tonight,” said netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens, who stopped 32 shots. “They're two talented players, we knew that, and we gave them too much time and space. When they have that you know they're going to capitalize.”
Head coach Kori Cheverie blamed it on her team’s shortcomings, instead of Fillier and Carpenter’s dynamism.
"I thought that they played well, but I thought that we played worse, almost,” Cheverie said. “I didn't find a lot was clicking tonight for us, and so a lot of what was generated against us was from our own wrongdoings.
“We weren’t ready to start.”
Fillier opened the scoring 11:32 into the first period after a blatant turnover from Montreal’s Anna Kjellbin. The puck landed on Jessie Eldridge’s stick before Fillier slid it into the net for her first of many in the PWHL.
The league’s newest star lit the lamp again with 18 seconds left in the third, beating Desbiens off another pass from Eldridge for a power-play goal.
"She's incredible, every time she jumps on the ice you never know what's going to happen,” Sirens forward Élizabeth Giguère said. “Everyone can think there isn't a play to be made and she makes one, like on Carpenter's goal. She has such good vision and a great shot, so it's hard to stop her sometimes."
Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart knew what to expect from playing with Fillier for Canada.
“She's one of those players that as a D, I don't like playing against because it means I got to be aware every time she's on the ice,” she said. “But as her teammate, I love being on the ice with her and competing with her, and you saw why tonight.”
UNO REVERSE
Montreal generated only four shots to 18 for New York in the first period. The Victoire responded with 10 in the second and 15 in the third, but generally struggled to create quality offence.
Fifth overall pick Cayla Barnes, however, was a bright spot. The 25-year-old American defender scored her first PWHL goal on a breakaway in the second, burying a tidy deke to the backhand after Jennifer Gardiner sprang her on a breakaway.
The two rookies out of Ohio State also connected for Gardiner’s game-tying goal in the Victoire’s opening win over Ottawa.
"For me to do that for her the other night, and then she Uno-reversed, do that to me tonight. It's exciting, and I'm happy that she was able to make that pass,” Barnes said. "Obviously a moment that I'll never forget.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
