Now getting into the swing of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season, Minnesota became the final team to earn a loss on their record on Jan. 14 after being defeated by New York 3-2 in overtime. Coming back from down 2-0, Emma Woods scored the dagger on a beautiful play for her club. What were some takeaways from the match?
Minnesota Dominated Early
It seemed as though Minnesota would come away with their fourth win of the season as soon as the first period ended. Not only were they the better team, but they had a two-goal lead despite letting a 5-on-3 power play go awry. Both puck possession, overall chances, and total shots were heavily in their favor. That’s been the story of their season and a major reason why they’ve been so good — they are rarely outplayed at all.
The same was mostly true for the second period until New York got a goal with five minutes and some change left to go on the power play. That didn’t change the dynamic too much, as Minnesota still had a fine period and was the better club overall. They came to play to start, but a combination of not playing a full 60 minutes and failing to convert on some high-quality chances led to the loss.
New York Controlled Play in the Third Period
Even though they weren’t the better team to start, there are no doubts that New York started cruising in the third. Minnesota was hemmed in their defensive zone frequently, especially toward the second half. It was an endless cycle of them clearing the zone after New York generated a good chance or two — this is the hockey that Minnesota has gotten out of other teams, not had themselves. New York did what no other team has been able to do in defeating Minnesota — their resilience was crucial in doing so.
It was almost out of the blue that New York came firing away. They only trailed by a single goal entering the third, but it seemed as though Minnesota was well on their way to another victory. A strong late effort caught Minnesota by surprise, and that should be motivation for New York moving forward. If their opponent continues to be as dominant as they have been, a win like this can go a long way. They outplayed the best team in the PWHL when it mattered the most.
Rooney Kept Minnesota in the Game
Despite the loss, Minnesota netminder Maddie Rooney had to come up clutch time and time again. Her team was looking pretty weak in the late stages of the third, but she completely stood on her head to force overtime in the first place. Minnesota didn’t earn the right to play in that overtime with how many high-quality opportunities they allowed at the most important stages of the game, but Rooney had other ideas. She has made it clear this season that she is in the upper echelon of netminders even though she has Nicole Hensley by her side.
Both Rooney and Hensley will likely continue to split time this season, but each of them have made their cases for the starting job. This one was similar to Minnesota’s first game when the latter was in goal where she had to go against a lot of big chances and came up strong. The stats won’t always show it, but the quality was far greater than the quantity in this case.
Related: PWHL: 4 Takeaways From 3-2 Minnesota Win vs. Boston
Again, 26 saves on 29 shots looks uninspiring on paper most of the time, but the stat sheet doesn’t show how close New York came to winning in regulation. Robbery after robbery, Rooney was on a heater. Ultimately, though, her flashy saves didn’t end up mattering except for salvaging a point in Minnesota’s eventual loss.
The Penultimate Round Pick is the Hero
In the 14th round of the 2023 PWHL Draft, New York took a chance on Woods. Their second-last pick of the entire draft showed that she has about as much skill as anyone else with a fantastic play to streak through the neutral zone to get a nice release on Rooney and beat her far side. She could have been mistaken for pretty much anyone in the entire PWHL with how much speed she came in with and the release she had on her shot.
Woods now has two points in four games, which is very solid considering there haven’t been too many blowouts in the PWHL thus far. With the nature of the league seeming to lean toward close games, a simple goal like the one she had can be all the difference. It’s not necessarily an underdog story as she was a great player at the collegiate level — this just speaks to how stacked the league truly is.
Next up, captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and her Minnesota squad will look to get back in the win column on the road against Ottawa on Jan. 17. As for New York, they’ll look to continue their winning ways on Jan. 16 by visiting Montreal to get some revenge for their 5-2 loss against them earlier in the season.
