On a crazy day in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Minnesota missed its opportunity, Boston took matters into its own hands and will not enter the playoffs by the back door, but Minnesota might…if Ottawa loses to Toronto in regulation tonight. Once that result is known, Toronto will have 24 hours to choose its opponent and the playoffs will start on May 8 in Toronto.
Act One: Minnesota vs New York
The day started with Minnesota taking on New York at UBS Arena. To qualify, Minnesota only needed a single point to book its place in the playoffs. In other words, they had to avoid losing in regulation. New York, which was eliminated from playoff contention already, came out of the gate ready for a battle. Micah Zandee-Hart’s teammates dictated play right away, and they never surrendered control. The game was Lindsey Post’s first start in the PWHL and it could not have gone any better. She was named the first star of the game, stopping 30 of the 32 shots she faced.
Related: PWHL Minnesota’s First Line Needs to Step Up in Final Games
While missing the playoffs wasn’t something New York thought might happen early in the season, they went through an eight-game losing streak which unsettled them. The losing streak started on Feb. 23 and only ended on March 25. Just before the international break, they lost three games in a row. Once eliminated, they played free of any pressure and finished the season with two wins. Their consolation prize, getting the first pick at the June draft, which should help them get over the lack of postseason action. Furthermore, Sarah Fillier, who many believe will be the first pick of the draft, has just completed her NCAA career at Princeton University in the neighboring state of New Jersey. It’s almost as if it was meant to be.
As for Minnesota, they didn’t expect New York to come out that strong and looked shell-shocked for the rest of the game. As soon as the home team took a two-goal lead, they had the body language of a team that had given up. This lack of interest, when all they needed was to get a single point to get into the playoffs, is unforgivable and worrying. Now their fate rests solely on Ottawa’s shoulders, if Emerance Maschmeyer pulls it off and beats Toronto for a fourth time in five meetings, Minnesota will be eliminated. However, should Toronto manage to beat its pet peeve, Minnesota will be in. Time to go light a few candles in a church ladies and hope for the best.
Act Two: Montreal vs Boston
In Boston, Hilary Knight and company decided they would take matters into their own hands. Captain Knight led the charge, scoring the first goal against Ann-Renée Desbiens at the 15-minute mark. Three minutes later, Alina Muller was forgotten in the slot and made it 2-0 Boston. Early in the second frame, Knight dished out a fantastic pass to Megan Keller who put it right in the net to make it 3-0 Boston. Montreal looked dumbfounded as they headed back to the locker room.
Whatever Kori Cheverie told her players seemed to work well since they roared back and scored three unanswered goals to tie up the game with just over three minutes left. Interestingly, even if Montreal didn’t need a win, Cheverie still pulled her goaltender when down 3-2 which led to Marie-Philip Poulin’s game-tying goal. Montreal thought Captain Clutch had done it again and the game would go to extra time, but Boston didn’t give up and scored the game-winning goal with less than two minutes to go. Kaleigh Fratkin beat Desbiens one last time to propel her team to third place in the standings securing its playoff berth.
Boston had an interesting year in the PWHL inaugural season, they weren’t a force, but at the same time, they didn’t have any long losing streaks. Their first pick in the last draft, Alina Muller, did not disappoint, the rookie led her team in points with 16 in 24 games. It probably won’t be enough to get her the best rookie title since Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle has 19 points to her name, just like Toronto’s Emma Maltais. The trade with Minnesota for forward Susanna Tapani was astute as the new acquisition quickly became an important part of Boston’s attack. It wasn’t a great season for pre-draft free agent and captain Hilary Knight though, she was limited to just 11 points in 24 games, just like Team Canada forward Jamie Lee Rattray who was Boston’s third-round pick. Rattray didn’t finish the game against Montreal as she fell awkwardly to the ice after an open-ice collision. As for Knight, she came up clutch when her team needed her the most.
As for Montreal, the season was a real roller-coaster. The power play struggled early on and until the international break, truth be told. They couldn’t get a single win against Toronto who fast became their pet peeve. The defense corps was shaky at best at the start and only became stable when Amanda Boulier was added via trade at the deadline in return for Tereza Vanisova.
It took some time to find line combinations that worked and the multiple injuries did not help. Losing Ann-Sophie Bettez and Dominika Laskova for the rest of the season was a tough blow, but it’s something you have to put up with in professional sports. Laura Stacey led the team in goals with 10 in 23 games and the increased role she got on the team allowed fans to discover a top-six Stacey who can do pretty much anything on the ice. She’s got incredible speed and slapshot (even though she sends it off target at times).
Meanwhile, fans realized just how important Poulin was to the team, when the captain was injured in early March, she had to miss three games and Montreal lost all three. When Montreal was in their first shootout, Cheverie took the opportunity to send Poulin multiple times in all alone on Toronto’s Kristen Campbell. She took some flack on social media for doing that, but I expect she’d do the same thing again if she were placed in the same situation. Even though she’s not leading the league in points, I strongly believe she should get the MVP award for the regular season.
Now, the stage is set for the final game of the season, Toronto takes on Ottawa tonight at 7:00. The result of that game will finally tell us who qualifies between Ottawa and Minnesota, but the matchups will have to wait until Toronto decides who they want to play in the semi-final.
