Lowell, Mass. — PWHL Boston’s Susanna Tapani punched her club’s ticket to the inaugural PWHL Finals, scoring the deciding goal in a 3-2 overtime victory over Montréal Wednesday night. PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel talked about the win following the game:
“I think it took a little bit to get our legs going. Obviously, we didn’t have the start we wanted to, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel
Montréal Comes Out Swinging
Boston’s Kaleigh Fratkin set the tone early delivering heavy (and likely illegal) contact to Kristin O’Neill along the wall. The officials, however, looked the other way and allowed play to continue. O’Neill was slow to make her way to the bench but was able to continue soon after the hit.
Aerin Frankel continued her impeccable run of form, halting multiple dangerous Montréal chances in the first half of the opening period.
Montréal picked up the first score of the game with 4:21 to play in the first. While being closely marked by Boston’s Jessica Digirolmo, Mikyla Grant-Mentis used her feet to open up a passing lane to a wide-open Marie-Philip Poulin who tipped the puck over Frankel’s blocker from point blank to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Poulin nearly made the game 2-0 with under a minute to go in the period, leading a two-on-one break into the Boston zone with Mélodie Daoust. The tic-tac-toe play would be foiled by Frankel. The 2021 Patty Kazmaier Award winner stonewalled Montréal’s captain with a sprawling pad stop to hold the lead at one.
After an unsurprisingly sluggish opening period, Montréal led by the slimmest of margins, but held a monstrous lead in shots on goal, registering 18 to Boston’s 4.
“When The Parade Passes By!”
Boston’s Fratkin took the game’s first penalty, being called for hooking at the four-minute mark of the middle frame. Montréal’s power play unit found some dangerous chances.
A tripping minor on Catherine Daoust sent PWHL Boston to the power play for the first time. Suzanna Tapani led the charge for the hosts with the extra skater, finding the puck three times during the penalty, but she could not find the back of the net.
The parade to the penalty box continued past the halfway mark of the period. Boston’s Jess Healey was next to make the skate of shame, being called for a hook against Kristin O’Neill.
The penalty would end up being costly for the hosts. Montréal’s ironwoman defender, Erin Ambrose, one-timed a slapshot from the point on a pass from Poulin. The puck would deflect off the heel of Maureen Murphy’s stick and through Frankel’s five-hole to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Tapani and Grant-Mentis exchanged pleasantries after the buzzer sounded in the second period, but neither would be called for a penalty. After forty minutes, Montréal’s lead had doubled and the shot tally had ticked up to 25-11.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
Jamie Lee Rattray appeared to score on a delayed penalty early on in the third period. The Boston winger’s snapshot got past a diving Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Sophie Shirley got Boston on the board with 12:54 to go in regulation. The hosts sprung a rapid counterattack into the Montréal zone led by a charging Anna Müller. The former Northeastern Husky dropped a pass off to Shirley who drove her way to the crease and sneaked the puck past Desbiens’ left skate and the near post to bring the Montréal lead back to one.
Boston continued to pile on the pressure in the offensive zone as the clock wound down. However, the hosts were caught napping at their defensive blue line. Mélodie Daoust found space through the middle of the ice, ending up all alone with Frankel. The Boston netminder covered the bottom of the net, making a toe save and keeping her side in the hunt with seven minutes to play.
The hosts wound up on the back foot late when Müller was sent to the box for a boarding minor.
But she wouldn’t stay in the sin-bin for long.
Hannah Brandt found Amanda Pelkey in a swath of open ice at the far blue line. With nobody to beat, Pelkey rifled a snapshot past Desbiens for the jailbreak goal, tying the game at two apiece with 3:43 to play in regulation.
Boston seemed desperate to close out the series with a regulation win, clawing tooth and nail in the dying moments of the third, but they would come up empty.
For the third time in the series, the game would be forced into the extra frame, this time tied 2-2.
PWHL Boston Advances
Unlike the previous two marathon matchups, overtime would be a short and sweet affair.
Megan Keller found a streaking Alina Müller in the neutral zone. Flying past a flailing Amanda Boulier, she ripped a shot off of Desbiens’ pads. However, the Montréal netminder made a fatal mistake by leaving a juicy rebound for a trailing Susanna Tapani.
That ✨️headed to the Finals✨️ feeling! pic.twitter.com/wfacGioNRU
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) May 15, 2024
After three massive chances on the power play, Tapani finally made an attempt count. The Finn ripped the puck past a diving Desbiens to complete the Boston comeback and send her club to the inaugural PWHL Finals series. The game and series-winning goal came 1:02 into the overtime period.
Postgame Proceedings
Since the second international break, PWHL Boston has not lost a game in regulation. After a rocky start to the year, head coach Courtney Kessel’s team finally appeared to put the pieces together both on and off the ice:
“I knew we had a special group here. I knew it was going to click at some point. It was frustrating at points, but I think the culture we’ve created and what we’ve surrounded these players with is love and family. That’s how you get success.”
PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel
PWHL Boston’s use of their depth was a key factor in their series sweep over Montréal.
“We didn’t play our fourth line as much as I wanted to today because we got down. Heading into overtime, we had some fresh legs so we were definitely going to use them. I think that it’s important that you prepare all season. Our fourth line had some minutes to develop and to grow. We went into Montréal without [Jamie Lee] Rattray, [Loren] Gable, and [Taylor Girard]. If you don’t give people the opportunity to learn and to grow, you’re not going to do well.”
PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel
PWHL Boston will play either Toronto or Minnesota in the PWHL Finals series starting later this month. All PWHL games can be streamed on the league’s YouTube channel.
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