After nearly a month, PWHL Minnesota returned to the Xcel Energy Center to play their final regular-season home game on Saturday afternoon, April 27. They took on PWHL Boston in a game that could’ve secured the postseason outcomes for three teams, including PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Boston.
Following a thank-you speech by their captains Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein, and Kelly Pannek, they also announced the raising of an inaugural season banner for PWHL Minnesota hanging in the rafters of the Xcel Energy Center. After the banner presentation, the game was able to get underway, but it was a slow start for PWHL Minnesota.
They were lacking energy, and the first period went scoreless despite some chances for both sides. The second sparked a little more energy from PWHL Minnesota, but they finally converted towards the end of the period and took the lead 1-0. In the third, the arena’s 9,977 made themselves heard as they cheered every shot on goal, knowing what a win could mean for their team.
However, PWHL Boston also knew how important it was for them to win in regulation, and they did just that. With just 2.7 seconds to go, PWHL Boston got a breakaway and made it count to hand PWHL Minnesota a 2-1 loss. PWHL Minnesota could’ve clinched a spot in the postseason if they’d gotten at least a point, but now they have to wait again. Their slow start didn’t help, and that’s where we’ll begin.
PWHL Minnesota Struggled to Find Its Groove
This season has shown that PWHL Minnesota is not necessarily a first-period team. They tend to start out a little slower than their opponent, and sometimes, this works out okay, and sometimes, it puts them in a hole early. They appear to need a period to find their groove, and then they start showing the speed and skill they possess.
Against PWHL Boston, it worked in their favor in the second. They kept things scoreless until they found a way to break through on a rebound. Things looked to be in their favor, but they lacked the energy to keep it going.
If they want to secure their spot in the postseason, they have to find their energy and start the game with it. They have the players with the skills to start games early and keep the lead throughout the game. Hopefully, this is a minor slump, and they’ll figure out how to jumpstart their games to secure their postseason.
Their head coach, Ken Klee, put it simply: “We’re just finding ways to lose hockey games right now, which is unfortunate because we’re playing well. We had many chances to win the game, extend the lead, get the lead, and extend it. You know, we were the better team for two periods, and then again, we found a way to lose it in the last two seconds. It’s gut-wrenching.”
PWHL Minnesota Special Teams Have to Be Better
If PWHL Minnesota wants to have any success in their final games leading up to the postseason and beyond, they must get both their power play and penalty kill to work successfully. Obviously, it’s not going to be perfect every game, but against PWHL Boston, they struggled, especially on their man advantage.
Against PWHL Boston, their penalty kill improved during the game. They let in a goal on their first kill but stepped up to kill off the second. Their power play was the area that really needed to be better. They had three chances to take the lead with a power play goal, but they couldn’t convert on any. They had chances but couldn’t find the back of the net, similar to their play on five-on-five. They have to find ways to score on their power play, or they’ll struggle in their final games and the postseason.
PWHL Minnesota Will Rely on Experience
PWHL Minnesota still has a chance to clinch its spot in the postseason, but it needs certain players who didn’t step up against PWHL Boston to step up. Thankfully, their team is full of players with plenty of veteran experience to lead, but they have to take the initiative. Coming down the stretch, the younger players aren’t used to this type of pressure and will be looking to the veteran players for guidance.
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As goaltender Nicole Hensley said in the post-game press conference, “I think we have a lot of leadership that’s played in world championship gold medal games, Olympic gold medal games, national championships in college, we have a lot of people that have played in a lot of very important games over the course of their careers and then come out on top. So people know how to do that, and again, it’s just believing in our group and sticking with what’s made us good over the course of the year.”
PWHL Minnesota Heads North
PWHL Minnesota still has two games to get into the playoffs and turn their slump around. Their next game will be against the league leader, PWHL Toronto, and a win against them would be huge for their morale and gameplay. PWHL Minnesota has to step up their game if they want to get past PWHL Toronto.
Whatever happens in these final two games and the postseason, the state of Minnesota has a reason to be excited as the 2024 PWHL Draft will be held in June in Minnesota. The exact date and location have yet to be announced. Hopefully, the talent pool will be as strong this summer as last September, and PWHL Minnesota can snag a win against PWHL Toronto.
