LOWELL, Mass. — On the strength of captain Hillary Knight’s first goal in her PWHL career, PWHL Boston beat PWHL Minnesota 4-3 in overtime at Tsongas Center on Saturday.
“I truly thought this was the best team game that we’ve played thus far,” said Boston head coach, Courtney Kessel. “There were little lapses here and there. Minnesota is a great, fast team. We know that they transition the puck well. We had to transition faster and get pucks deeper and we pulled it off.”
PWHL Boston would fly out to the lead less than four minutes in on a rocket shot from the point by Kaleigh Fratkin. A pass from below the goal line by Jamie Lee Rattray would skitter its way to the high slot. Fratkin used the traffic in front of the net to her advantage, launching a shot off of the sleeve of Minnesota’s Sophia Kunin which deflected past Rooney’s glove. Fratkin’s maiden goal would also give Boston their first home lead in club history.
A Firey First
Taylor Girard would give the hosts some insurance less than 90 seconds later. The former Connecticut Whale forward found the puck on her stick after Shiann Darkangelo’s shot was blocked by Maggie Flaherty. Girard would not let the chance go to waste, roofing the puck over the sliding Rooney to double the lead for the hosts.
Boston netminder Emma Söderberg had little to entertain her for the first few minutes until a dangerous turnover by Hannah Brandt would see Denisa Křížová with the puck on the doorstep. Söderberg would come to move to the top of the crease to challenge Křížová, cutting down the angle and taking the puck in the chest to keep the lead at two.
Minnesota’s Abigail Boreen would take the first penalty of the game, being sent off for a hooking minor. Boston would come up empty on the power play, chasing the puck up and down the ice for the majority of the two minutes.
Minnesota began to claw their way back into the game on the strength of a highlight reel goal by Brittyn Fleming. Andover, Massachusetts native Claire Boutrac would send a quick pass from below the goal line in the direction of Fleming. Fleming would throw the puck, and her body, at the net and put it past the crouching Rooney.
Alina Müller would return the favor with a goal of her own just 80 seconds later. The Former Northeastern Husky ripped a slap shot from the hashes on a give-and-go play with Loren Gable to get the host’s lead back to two.
Boston would carry their 3-1 lead into the first intermission, scoring on all but one of their registered shots-on-goal.
Slow Second Stanza
The second period would open with a hooking minor to Boston’s Fratkin. The Minnesota powerplay would give the appearance of danger, but Soderberg would hold up to the challenge.
If there wasn’t already enough proof that physicality is a key aspect of the PWHL. Boston’s Amanda Pelkey took a monster hit from Natalie Buchbinder near the end of the second. Clearly in some pain following the check, the former Metropolitain Riveter showed her mettle. Completing the defensive duties of her shift, she would kick off a rush-up ice that would develop into a long attacking zone possession for Boston.
Minnesota would make a statement with just 39 seconds remaining in the middle frame. A Taylor Heise slapshot would pinball its way through traffic before being tipped by Grace Zumwinkle over Söderberg’s glove to reduce the deficit to one.
The 3-2 scoreline would hold into the second intermission. After 40 minutes of play, the shot tally stood 11 to 8 in favor of the hosts.
Comeback: Complete
The third period began almost identically to the second when Boston was caught with too many players on the ice. Boston’s league-leading penalty kill unit would prove too much for the visitors yet again, picking up multiple takeaways and sending the Minnesota power play unit scrambling.
Another penalty to Fratkin gave the visitors yet another lease on life. Minnesota’s power play seemed to finally find its rhythm, elegantly cycling the puck and finding chance after chance with the man advantage. Boston’s defense would come up big as Gigi Marvin and Taylor Girard put their bodies on the line to block back-to-back shots from the point.
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee would call his netminder to the bench with 1:30 to play in regulation. Boston captain Hillary Knight took a chance at the empty net from 100 feet out but missed the net wide right by a matter of inches, awarding a defensive zone draw to Minnesota.
The draw would go the way of Minnesota, allowing them time to set up in the offensive zone. Grace Zumwinkle cycled the puck to the point for the waiting Lee Stecklein. Stecklein’s shot went just wide of the net but would take a hard carom of the kickplate and end up on the stick of Minnesota captain and Team USA legend, Kendall Coyne Schofield. Her one-timed shot would ramp off of Söderberg’s glove and into the back of the net. With just 53 seconds to play in regulation, Coyne completed the comeback for Minnesota and sent the game to overtime.
Hillary Knight would waste little time in the overtime period. An odd-man rush into the zone gave the Boston captain all the time she needed to get her shot off. Rooney got a piece of Knight’s wrist shot, but not enough to keep it out of the net. After a difficult start to the year, Knight finally got the monkey off her back and did it in style. Who else but Hillary to pick up Boston’s first home win in club history with a 4-3 overtime victory?
Postgame Proceedings
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee wasn’t thrilled with picking up the looser point, but still took away some positives from the game.
“It was a good, exciting hockey game,” said Klee. “I didn’t like our start, but once we settled down, I thought we played very well. If we have a better first five minutes, hopefully we’d get a better outcome. We had our chances to win, but we didn’t find a way.”
It took a while, but Hillary Knight finally was able to do what she does best: scoring goals.
“I’m glad we could get a win here at home,” said Knight postgame. “I was ecstatic to be able to do that in front of our fans who have been waiting patiently. The last few games have been uncomfortable for me. I’ve been trying to make an imprint on the game. I iced the puck and we got scored on. But, when your number gets called, hopefully you can make a difference and right the wrongs.”
PWHL Boston will play host to Montréal next Sunday, February 4 at 4:00 PM at the Tsongas Center. Minnesota will play the second of a three-game road trip tomorrow at 1:00 PM against New York. Alongside local listings, all PWHL games can be streamed on YouTube.
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