The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) had one of their rare shootouts in a match between Minnesota and Ottawa, one that Minnesota took 4-3. With the win, Minnesota moved to 9-4-3 on the season tying Montreal for the PWHL lead in points with 27, while Ottawa needs to turn things around with them both outside a playoff spot over halfway through the season and having the second-least games remaining in the league with just nine. What were some takeaways?
Krizova Finally Had a Breakout Performance
After scoring just one goal and three assists for four points in her first 16 PWHL games, Denisa Krizova easily had her game of the season in this one. She potted two goals including the game-tying tally that sent the game to overtime while also setting the tone in the shootout, scoring the first goal there. She finally showed her potential.
What makes the PWHL so talented is that every single player is capable of having a dominant game like this one. Essentially, it’s like an All-Star Game every single night. And the women prove this on a nightly basis. The talent gap between the top-line players and those a bit lower down is very minimal. Krizova finally broke through for Minnesota, and that’s great news for them. She earned the first attempt in the shootout because of how well she played and made it count.
Special Teams Still a Negative for Minnesota
Minnesota’s biggest weakness this season has been their special teams. Their offense, defense, and especially goaltending have all been fantastic this season. But their special teams have been awful. Their power play is slightly above Boston’s league-worst, and their penalty kill is easily the worst. And that cost them in this game.
Ottawa, the team with the best power play in the PWHL, used their good matchup to their advantage. They struck twice on the man advantage. After starting the game down 2-0, they took the lead 3-2 because of it. Minnesota’s special teams almost cost them this one. It will be something head coach Ken Klee will have to monitor moving forward if he wants to win a championship.
When Minnesota’s games are frequently close, they cannot have the worst special teams in the entire PWHL. It can’t continue to be an issue. If they had the success rates of any other team, they might have a better record. Games can be decided by special teams, and this one almost was.
Abstreiter Nearly Stole the Game for Ottawa
While Katerina Mrazova had two goals in this one, it was backup goaltender Sandra Abstreiter who saved the game for Ottawa. She has barely played at all this season with Emerance Maschmeyer taking nearly all of the starts for her club, but Abstreiter was arguably the best player for either team in this one. She robbed Minnesota every chance she got, and her saves weren’t easy. She had to make 43 of them on 46 shots, giving her a .935 save percentage on the night.
The overtime was some of Abstreiter’s best work, as Minnesota was humming both early on when they were on a power play and late when they had a push. The defense in front of her wasn’t particularly great, as this was one of Minnesota’s best performances all season long in terms of generating chances. It seemed as though they had high-danger looks the whole night.
Maybe it was just a one-off, but Abstreiter really gave herself a case to get many more starts as the season moves along. It hasn’t been a particularly great one for either her or Maschmeyer. Perhaps a boost in the standings for them can come from their goaltending. On most nights, they’d get a win with what Abstreiter gave them.
Shootout Can Be a Strength for Minnesota
Since this PWHL season is already halfway over and only now did Minnesota play their first shootout, this can be applied for the long-term. They had so many great shooters to choose from that it took until their fourth and fifth shots to get forwards Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise out there — both of them scored. Minnesota is so stacked offensively that not even captain Kendall Coyne Schofield got a chance.
Perhaps it’s just a matter of sample size, but Minnesota is arguably worse than their 2-3 record in overtime suggests. They have some scary shifts at times and they almost lead to goals against. Even in this one, Ottawa dominated possession after Minnesota’s early power play and almost scored a few times because of it. Gassed in their own zone, Minnesota was lucky to get the puck out and force a shootout. If they can do so more often, they should win a good amount. Both their talent in terms of skaters and in goal should make sure of it.
Related: Get to Know the 2024 PWHL Minnesota Players
Next up, Ottawa will visit Montreal on March 10 to try and make a playoff push, sitting one point out of the final playoff spot. For Minnesota, they won’t play again until they host Boston at Xcel Energy Center on March 13. Montreal will play three games before then, so it’s likely that Minnesota won’t be tied for first place for very long. If they want that spot, they’ll need to string together a few more wins.