New York Sirens ahead Sarah Fillier had the puck and was selecting up velocity.
In a break up second, Fillier dropped a move again to her linemate Alex Carpenter who fired off a wrist shot that blew previous the Minnesota Frost’s goalie.
Similar to that, the New York Sirens, only some months faraway from ending final within the PWHL’s inaugural season, spoiled the defending champion Frost’s banner evening with a 4-3 additional time win on Dec. 1.
That play, which occurred solely 19 seconds into additional time, was Fillier’s second help on a Carpenter objective that recreation.
Greater than two weeks into the season, Fillier has dealt with the pressures of being a No. 1 general choose seamlessly.
She at present leads the league in factors (5), has already netted two targets in three video games and is a part of the league’s most potent line.
Fillier and Carpenter have mixed for half of the Sirens’ 10 targets this season.
“It’s been loads of enjoyable,” Carpenter instructed The Publish this week. “Sarah is such a dynamic participant and having the ability to play with a participant who sees the ice rather well and is aware of the place the open spots are on the ice.”
None of what Fillier has achieved up so far has shocked those that know her finest.
“Everyone’s speaking about her transition from school however she’s been on the nationwide group for a very long time,” Sirens coach Greg Fargo mentioned forward of Wednesday’s season opener at Prudential Middle. “What Sarah is doing is outstanding. She’s not solely getting on the board however she’s concerned in loads of our necessary offense … and to me, that’s the signal of somebody who’s main the cost.”
On a private degree, Fillier has some modest expectations for this season.
“I need to clearly have a very nice rookie yr,” she mentioned. “I need to proceed to develop.”
However for the group, Fillier has loftier targets.
“As a group, we simply need to jell as fast as we will,” she mentioned. “Seize a ton of factors early on within the season and hopefully go for a championship run.”
It was clear from an early age that Fillier was particular. After taking part in the primary 9 years on a boys group, extra individuals began to take discover when she was lighting up the Provincial Girls’s Hockey League with the Oakville Jr. Hornets.
“You possibly can inform at 16,” Princeton girls’s hockey coach Cara Morey mentioned. “She simply noticed the sport at a unique degree.”
Fillier has been certainly one of girls’s hockey’s most fun up-and-comers since she led the nation in scoring with 22 targets and 35 assists in 29 video games as a freshman at Princeton in 2018-19.
However the 2022 Olympic Video games have been the world’s introduction to Fillier, who carried herself like a seasoned veteran.
Fillier recorded a hat trick in Canada’s dominant win towards Sweden within the quarterfinals and helped her native nation finally win gold.
She finally completed second in event scoring with eight targets.
However whereas some consider this was Fillier’s breakout displaying, those that knew Fillier weren’t in any respect shocked.
“She did precisely what I believed she would do on the Olympics,” mentioned Morey, who had recognized Fillier since she was 15.
Final season, there was hypothesis that Fillier could possibly be the highest choose of the 2024 PWHL draft.
However she ignored that exterior noise the very best she might as she went on to attain a career-high 30 targets in 29 video games for Princeton.
Fillier was virtually in disbelief when Billie Jean King introduced that the New York Sirens could be taking Fillier with the No. 1 choose on the June draft.
“It’s one thing that lots of people don’t get to expertise being a primary general choose in your respective sport,” Fillier mentioned.
The transition from school to the PWHL has been seamless for her.
“She’s performed on the nationwide group degree, so type of is aware of what that further step is,” Carpenter mentioned. “[She] got here into coaching camp firing on all cylinders.”
Whereas the Sirens are already three video games into their younger season, Wednesday’s recreation towards Toronto will mark a brand new period for them in some methods.
After taking part in residence video games at three completely different venues final season, the Sirens have a everlasting residence in Prudential Middle.
Fillier expects to have many family and friends in attendance, together with a few of her Princeton teammates. Enjoying towards her finest good friend and former Tigers teammate, Toronto’s Maggie Connors, makes the house opener even sweeter.
“It was actually cool to play towards her within the preseason recreation,” Fillier mentioned, “however placing on our actual jersey on the Prudential Middle tomorrow… can be actually particular.”
