Lowell, Mass. — The unofficial motto of the PWHL playoffs has been “expect the unexpected.” That sentiment rang true again on Sunday when PWHL Boston took down Minnesota 4-3 in Game 1 of the inaugural PWHL Finals.
It didn’t take long for the officials to get involved in the game. Megan Keller skated to the box just ten seconds into the contest after being called for interference. The Boston penalty killers stemmed the onrushing tide, requiring Aering Frankel to make only a single save during the penalty.
Minnesota opened the scoring in style. While working her way up the half wall, Taylor Heise made a no-look backhand pass to Michela Cava. The Thunder Bay native drove her way to the crease, faking a shot to Frankel’s glove side. Cava held onto the puck, skating around the back of the net and depositing it between the post and Frankel’s left skate.
Susanna Tapani continued her incredible run of form, scoring the tying goal against her old team just past the seven-minute mark of the first period. Maddie Rooney made the initial save on a one-timed Emily Brown slapshot but left a rebound for the waiting Tapani, who fired a backhand into the Minnesota net to make it 1-1.
Things slowed down in the second half of the period, with both teams exchanging relatively harmless chances. The 1-1 score held to the buzzer, with Minnesota holding a minimal 10-8 lead in shots on net.
Middle frame mayhem
Boston slowly began to develop a presence in the Minnesota zone to start the second period. That was until Taylor Heise made her presence known. The former Golden Gopher worked her way diagonally across the attacking zone before firing a wristshot into the near corner to give the lead back to the visitors.
Once again, Minnesota’s lead did not last long. Taylor Wenczkowski used her physicality to remove Maggie Flaherty from the play along the attacking blue line, allowing Gigi Marvin to begin a Boston attacking zone possession. Marvin’s initial wraparound attempt was denied by Rooney, but the rebound found the stick of Wenczkowski, who flipped the puck into the net to tie the game at 2 apiece.
The momentum swing continued when Hannah Brandt found the smallest of openings in the Minnesota defense, going through Rooney’s five hole to make the score 3-2.
Minnesota leveled the scoreline again just two minutes later. Cava sent a cross ice pass just above the crease to a waiting Taylor Heise, who ripped the puck past Frankel from the goal line to tie things at 3.
The goals continued to rain down at Tsongas Center. Boston defender Jess Healey sent a seemingly harmless shot to the net. However, Rooney completely misjudged the puck’s trajectory, allowing it to pass over her glove to make the score 4-3.
After a wild second period, Boston gained a 4-3 lead with 20 minutes to go in regulation. In the middle frame, Boston found the back of the net on 3 of their 7 shots.
PWHL Boston holds the line
Minnesota returned to the power play early in the third after Hannah Brandt sent the puck out of play. The player advantage unit struggled to find the target until late in the penalty but were repeatedly denied by Frankel.
Boston slowly upped the pressure as the clock wound down. A dangerous offensive zone chance led by Susana Tapani and Loren Gabel brought Boston to the brink of a breakthrough, but some solid blocks by the Minnesota defense kept the visitors within striking distance.
Kaleigh Fratkin took Boston’s second penalty of the period, a tripping minor at 11:22. The Minnesota power play again struggled to create any real danger, spending most of the penalty chasing the puck.
Hannah Brandt nearly doubled the Boston lead but was denied by the bar. The visitors sprung a quick counterattack but were foiled by another sprawling Aerin Frankel save.
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee pulled Rooney for the extra attacker with 1:34 to play in regulation. The 6-on-5 advantage wouldn’t be enough. Boston held onto their 4-3 lead to the buzzer, continuing their unbeaten playoff run and taking a 1-0 lead in the inaugural PWHL Finals series.
Post game proceedings
With Boston coming within an inch of their lives in the regular season, Jess Healey reflected on the path her club took to get to the PWHL Final.
“We’ve proved a lot of people wrong,” said Healey postgame. “We brought ourselves back from the dead. We were in a position where we might not even make the playoffs and, like I said, I think we proved a lot of people wrong.”
Similar to the finals matchup, the result of the series’ opening game was incredibly unexpected.
“It was definitley a different feel for us,” said PWHL Minnesota head coach Ken Klee following the game. “We’ve been playing a lot of 1-0 games. This was nice. We had a lot of looks and good chances. [PWHL Boston] obviously played tremendously well and had some unbelievable goals. Series are always going to take on their own identity. Now we know what this is going to be like.”
PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota will face off again on Tuesday night at 7:00 at the Tsongas Center for Game 2 of the inaugural PWHL Finals series. All games can be streamed on the PWHL YouTube channel.
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