Now that the 2024 Women’s World Championship is officially over, with Team Canada taking down Team USA 6-5 in overtime to take home gold, it’s time to start thinking about the final games of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season and the postseason. PWHL Minnesota will restart their season later this evening against PWHL Montréal, with both teams battling for playoff position.
As the postseason race gets tighter, with just five games remaining for each team, these games will get more intense. PWHL Toronto currently has a one-point lead over PWHL Minnesota in first place, while PWHL Montréal sits in third place, four points back of PWHL Minnesota. PWHL Ottawa has the final playoff spot, four points behind PWHL Montréal and five points ahead of fifth-place PWHL Boston.
In this article, we’ll examine what PWHL Minnesota must do to secure its postseason and possibly the number one spot, plus a chance to win the inaugural Walter Cup. We’ll start with the top line, which has been fun to watch the last few games before the break.
PWHL Minnesota Needs Their Top Line
Ever since PWHL Minnesota head coach Ken Klee put together Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Taylor Heise, and Michela Cava, they’ve been scoring goals quickly. This top line has a spark only seen in true top lines. They can find each other anywhere on the ice, and their speed is incredible. It also doesn’t hurt that each player is a very gifted goal scorer when they have the puck in front of the net.
When they cycle the puck, they can speed around their opponents and each other, and by the time the opponent’s defense can set up, they’ve already gotten a shot on the net. All three players have benefited from being on this line, as they’ve all tallied goals and assists since being put together. Hopefully, that chemistry continues as they come out of this break, and maybe they’ll even have some new plays up their sleeves for the final march to the postseason.
PWHL Minnesota Must Keep Penalty Minutes Down
So far this season, PWHL Minnesota has done a decent job of staying out of the penalty box, and with how their penalty kill has struggled, they need to keep it that way. When they need points, staying out of the penalty box has to be a top priority, as they need every player on the ice to be able to score.
They have a handful of players who like to get feisty, but they’ve kept themselves composed and not allowed it to get too far. They’ll need to maintain that mindset as these games become more important and tensions start to rise as teams fight over postseason positions. Hopefully, they can improve their penalty kill and power play as the playoffs draw closer.
PWHL Minnesota Must Win Face-offs
This is an area PWHL Minnesota has done pretty well at all season, with their three main centers having face-off win percentages over 50 percent. Kelly Pannek has taken 350 face-offs this season and won 191 of them for a percentage of 54.6, which is quite impressive. They’ll rely on that as their games become more critical.
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It is hard to find three players who can consistently win face-offs, and PWHL Minnesota has to use that to its advantage. Winning face-offs in the offensive zone gives chances to bring the puck back to the point for a well-timed shot while winning a face-off in the defensive zone takes away the opponent’s chance to score. Face-offs are crucial to winning games, and PWHL Minnesota has the players to win them.
PWHL Minnesota Can Take First
PWHL Minnesota was finding their game again when the break started, and hopefully, they can pick up right where they left off. They can climb into first if they continue to play smart, heads-up hockey. They’ll see each team in the PWHL one more time before the season ends, and four out of those five games will be on the road. They were lucky enough to be home for nearly a month, and now they have to repay that by being on the road.
It’s going to be a tough stretch, but they can do it. They have the talent and the will. It’ll be interesting to see how they come out of this break, as they have been practicing. Their teammates who were gone were playing and practicing as well, so they all should still have their skating legs. Hopefully, they’ll be able to transition back seamlessly and continue to win games leading up to the postseason.