SAINT PAUL, MN (February 25, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) weekend schedule wraps up with a Sunday afternoon game between Minnesota and Boston, at 4:00 p.m. ET at Xcel Energy Center. Today’s game will be a celebration of Pride.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans in the United States can watch live on Bally Sports North, the Bally Sports app on mobile and tablet devices (including iOS and Android), ballysports.com when fans authenticate using their pay-TV credentials, and on Bally Sports+, the standalone streaming subscription service available from Bally Sports. The game is also available on Bally Sports Detroit Extra, Bally Sports Wisconsin, Bally Sports South, Bally Sports Sun, Bally Sports San Diego, Bally Sports Southern California, NESN, or streamed on the NESN 360 app for users logging in with their TV provider or purchasing a direct subscription. Canadian viewers can watch live on Sportsnet 360 and streamed on Sportsnet+. The game will also stream on the league’s YouTube channel. Clay Matvick has today’s play-by-play call alongside analyst Alexis Pearson.
PRIDE CELEBRATION
Today will be a celebration of Pride at Xcel Energy Center. Players will be using Pride tape during warmups, and the videoboard will highlight messages of support and inclusion throughout the game featuring PWHL Minnesota players. Brian Burke, PWHL Players Association Executive Director, co-founder of You Can Play, and an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion, will lead the ceremonial “Let’s Play Hockey” cheer. The team is also proud to welcome several community partners in attendance today including Twin Cities Pride, Twin Cities Queer Hockey Association, and Team Trans Hockey.
SETTING THE STAGE
It’s game number 37 across the PWHL which officially starts the second half of the regular-season schedule. At the midway mark, Minnesota (5-2-2-3) has 21 points in second place – three points back of first place Montréal, who have a game in hand. Boston (3-2-2-4) will play their 12th game today and enter the action in fifth place with 15 points – one behind fourth place New York. This is the third meeting of the season between the two teams, and first since Boston claimed a 4-3 overtime victory on Jan. 27. Minnesota hits the ice for the first time since last Sunday when they wrapped up a stretch of three games in five days. Each of those contests were 2-1 decisions in regulation, including a victory over Ottawa at home on Valentine’s Day, another win over Ottawa on the road on Feb. 17, and a loss to Montréal on Feb. 18. In four February games, Minnesota has earned six of a possible 12 points. Boston’s fortunes changed after defeating Minnesota as the team proceeded to lose a season-high four straight games at home. They salvaged single points in overtime losses to Montréal by a 2-1 score on Feb. 4, and to New York by another 2-1 score on Feb. 17, then broke the slump with a 3-1 win over Ottawa on Wednesday to cap a busy stretch of four games in eight days. Boston has played the fewest road games in the PWHL with just three but have won each of them by 3-2 scores. Their last game on the road was in Ottawa on Jan. 24. Minnesota has won three of its five games at Xcel Energy Center, claiming 10 of a possible 15 points. Boston will make two return trips to Minnesota on Mar. 13 and Apr. 27.
THE SEASON SERIES SO FAR
The first two games of the season series were played at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell with split decisions. Minnesota won the season opener 3-2 on Jan. 3, and Boston picked up its first home win 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 27. Grace Zumwinkle’s first goal of the season held as the game-winner in her pro debut, and she led Minnesota’s offense with a goal and an assist in the rematch to give her three points in head-to-head action. Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield forced overtime in the last encounter with a tying goal in the final minute, assisted by Zumwinkle and Lee Stecklein who had two helpers. That game featured four goals in the first period, including three from Boston. Alina Müller had the team’s third goal and assisted on Hilary Knight’s overtime winner. Müller has three points in the season series, while Knight has a goal and an assist, and both Jamie Lee Rattray and defender Megan Keller have two assists. The first two games featured two different goaltending pairings. Last game featured Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney against Emma Söderberg, while today’s battle reverts to the opening game matchup between Nicole Hensley, who stopped 33 of 35 shots, against Aerin Frankel, who stopped 13 of 16 shots faced. Both teams won their head-to-head games despite producing season-low shot counts. Minnesota had 16 shots on Jan. 3, and Boston had just 15 on Jan. 27.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Grace Zumwinkle (7G, 2A) leads Minnesota with nine points followed by Kelly Pannek (1G, 7A) with eight points. Zumwinkle’s seven goals are third most in the PWHL, while Pannek’s seven assists are tied for the league’s third highest total. Boston is led offensively by Alina Müller (2G, 8A) and Megan Keller (3G, 7A) who both have 10 points. Müller’s eight assists are tied for the league-lead, and Keller is tied for the scoring lead among defenders while riding a four-game point streak. Both team captains have also been playing well as of late, with Kendall Coyne Schofield amassing three goals and five assists over her last six games, and Hilary Knight producing a goal and an assist in her last two games. Boston’s third top scorer, Loren Gabel, also has a goal and an assist in her last two games to bring her point total to seven. Minnesota signed Abby Boreen to her second 10-Day Standard Player Agreement, lining up in place of Taylor Heise who has been moved to Long Term Injured Reserve. Boreen has two goals and one assist in her last three games.
WELCOME BACK TO MINNESOTA
Four Boston players return to their ‘State of Hockey’ roots for the first time this regular season. Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights), Emily Brown (Blaine), Gigi Marvin (Warroad), and Sidney Morin (Minnetonka) will all surely have lots of family and friends in attendance. All four also spent their NCAA careers in Minnesota, with Brandt, Brown, and Marvin as former Gophers, and Morin a UMD Bulldog. Jess Healey and Emma Söderberg also attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Brandt was a three-time National Champion at Minnesota and was recently named to the WCHA 25th Anniversary Top 25 Team – an honor also bestowed upon Taylor Heise (Minnesota), Sophie Jaques (Ohio State), and Lee Stecklein (Minnesota) in February, and Hilary Knight (Wisconsin) in November. Brandt also won an Isobel Cup title in 2019 with the PHF’s Minnesota Whitecaps – a team that Morin played for last season. The game also marks the first head-to-head meeting since the first trade in PWHL history. Abby Cook and Susanna Tapani return to Minnesota to face their former teammates, while Jaques will face familiar faces on Boston. Each player has recorded one point with their new teams, with Cook and Tapani scoring goals, and Jaques producing an assist.
OLYMPIC MEMORIES
Today marks the 14-year anniversary of Canada’s Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey with a 2-0 victory over the United States on Feb. 25, 2010, in Vancouver. Playing in late February surely brings countless memories for the 17 Olympians on these two rosters with a combined 30 medals. Olympians on Minnesota include Kendall Coyne Schofield (2014 Silver, 2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Nicole Hensley (2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Denisa Křížová (2022), Kelly Pannek (2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Maddie Rooney (2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Lee Stecklein (2014 Silver, 2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Grace Zumwinkle (2022 Silver). For Boston, Olympians include Hannah Brandt (2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Megan Keller (2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Hilary Knight (2010 Silver, 2014 Silver, 2018 Gold, 2022 Silver), Gigi Marvin (2010 Silver, 2014 Silver, 2018 Gold), Sidney Morin (2018 Gold), Alina Müller (2014 Bronze, 2018, 2022), Amanda Pelkey (2018 Gold), Jamie Lee Rattray (2022 Gold), Emma Söderberg (2022), Susanna Tapani (2014, 2018 Bronze, 2022 Bronze).
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“Boston has a lot of skilled and talented players. I’m excited to get out there against them with this new group. They have players like Megan Keller and Alina Müller that have been making plays for them all year, so we need to make sure to shut them down. It’ll be a fun game!” – Sophie Jaques, Minnesota
“Every game has been highly contested. Both teams have good players so it’s going to come down to details and who can finish at the right time. Great goaltending and great defense are making it hard to score, we’re going to have to be physical on them and bear down and make plays.” – Ken Klee, Minnesota
“I think we are focused on playing to our identity as a team. Each and every game we have gotten better and I think we’re looking forward to showing that off.” – Aerin Frankel, Boston
“I think it’s continuing to do what we do well and that’s create offense. We have to get pucks to the net. Minnesota is a very talented offensive team and has done well, so I think we have to shut down their big guns and put some pucks behind their goalies.” – Courtney Kessell, Boston
QUICK HITS
Minnesota (+3) is tied for first in goal differential and Boston (-4) is tied for fifth…Boston (2.36) is second in goals-per-game average and Minnesota (2.17) is sixth…Minnesota (1.92) allows the fewest goals-per-game and Boston (2.73) allows the most on average…Minnesota has won five of the six games they’ve scored first, and Boston has won all three games when they’ve scored the first goal…Minnesota has scored 10 first period goals compared to Boston’s six, but Boston has scored 10 third period goals compared to Minnesota’s five…Boston (+14) is third in shot differential and Minnesota (+6) ranks fourth…Boston (28.09) is third in shots-per-game average and Minnesota (27.33) ranks fifth…Boston (26.82) allows the third fewest shots-per-game and Minnesota (26.83) allows the third most…Minnesota (5.83) and Boston (5.45) rank fourth and fifth in most penalty minutes per game…Boston (2/28) is fifth in powerplay efficiency at 7.1%…Minnesota (2/30) rank sixth on the PP at just 6.7%…Boston (24/27) is third in penalty kill efficiency at 88.9%…Minnesota (25/32) is sixth on the PK at 78.1%…Grace Zumwinkle (MIN) is third in the league with seven goals including a league-high three game-winners…Alina Müller (BOS) is tied for the league-lead with eight assists…Megan Keller (BOS) is tied for the scoring lead among defenders with 10 points…Taylor Girard (BOS) leads the league with two shorthanded points…Girard leads the league with a 36.4% shooting percentage…Susanna Tapani (BOS) leads the league with a plus-8 rating…Lee Stecklein (MIN) is tied for second in the league with 12 penalty minutes…Zumwinkle leads Minnesota with 47 shots on goal…Hilary Knight leads Boston with 38 shots…Kelly Pannek (111/204) leads Minnesota in draws and with a win-rate of 54.4%…Tapani (67/125) leads Boston with a 53.6% face-off percentage…Müller (45%) leads Boston with 171 face-offs…Nicole Hensley (MIN) has won five of her seven starts and carries a goals-against-average of 1.84 and save percentage of .938 that both rank third overall…Aerin Frankel (BOS) has won three games in eight appearances with a 1.94 GAA and .928 SV% that both rank fourth…Cami Kronish (BOS) celebrated her 24th birthday on Saturday and Nicole Kosta (BOS) will turn 31 on Tuesday.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
MINNESOTA:
Coyne Schofield | Pannek | Boreen
Křížová | Cava | Zumwinkle
Butorac | DeGeorge | Kunin
Bryant | Fleming | Kremer
Stecklein | Jaques
Channell | Buchbinder
Greco | Flaherty
Hensley | Rooney
Scratches: Bench, Brodt, Heise, Leveille, Schepers
BOSTON:
Gabel | Müller | Knight
Rattray | Tapani | Schafzahl
Girard | Brandt | Darkangelo
Isbell | Marvin | Pelkey
Keller | Fratkin
Brown | Morin
Healey | DiGirolamo
Cook
Frankel | Söderberg
Scratches: Kronish, Shirley, Wenczkowski
OFFICIALS:
Referees: Samantha Hiller (Chicago, IL) and Laura White (Runnemede, NJ).
Linespersons: Jarrett Burton (Kingston, ON) and Shawn Oliver (Ottawa, ON).
Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus team accounts @pwhl_boston and @pwhl_minnesota.