PWHL: Minnesota Beats Boston 3-0 for The Walter Cup

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On Wednesday night, a sold-out Tsongas Center crowd of 6,309 was on hand to witness history. It was Game 5 of the PWHL Finals between PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Boston. A series that has lived up to its billing. On this night, a champion was going to be crowned. PWHL Boston came into Game 5 on a bit of a high thanks to a Game 4 double OT win that kept their season and hopes of a title alive. For PWHL Minnesota, a short time to regroup and focus on Game 5.

You knew you were at a big game when during warm-ups, the building was already just about full. Goaltending has been a big part of the first four games of this series and there was no reason to think Game 5 would be any different. Power plays, or the lack thereof, have been a bit of a story in this series. For PWHL Minnesota, they have only been 2-25 (8%) in these playoffs with both of those goals coming on the road. For PWHL Boston, their power play has been a source of trouble all season. In the playoffs, they have yet to score on the PP going 0-15.

The first Let’s Go Boston chant started before the National Anthem. The crowd was ready and the game was on. Your starting goalies were Nicole Hensley (17 saves) for PWHL Minnesota and for PWHL Boston it was Aerin Frankel, otherwise known as the “Green Monster.” The first 6:10 of the first period was up-and-down hockey. PWHL Boston had an early 4-2 shots advantage. The first penalties came at the 12:40 mark. Maggie Flaherty of PWHl Minnesota and Taylor Wenczkowski went off for roughing and it was four-on-four hockey for the next two minutes. Nothing much happened, so the game continued. With 2:21 left in the first, the shots were 8-7 PWHL Minnesota. The first period came to an end with the game scoreless. Shots in the first were 9-7 in favor of PWHL Minnesota.

The second period started with both teams at even strength. The opening three-plus minutes of the second saw PWHL Minnesota on the attack outshooting PWHL Boston 3-1 early on. PWHL Minnesota scored the game’s first goal off a giveaway from PWHL Boston. Liz Shepers got her first of the playoffs from Sydney Brodt and Mellissa Channell. The goal came at 6:14. Schepers poked home a rebound of a Brodt shot from the right-side goal line. Schepers tapped home the puck from the left post after a nifty move where she got Frankel to bite on a fake. 1-0 PWHL Minnesota.

If there was a concern for PWHL Boston it was the lack of zone time in the PWHL Minnesota end of the ice. They were having a difficult time generating anything offensively. Still, it was just a one-goal game. One shot could change everything. PWHL Minnesota had a great chance to make it 2-0. Michela Cava came right down the slot for a grade-a chance only to be stopped by Frankel (41 saves on 44 shots). PWHL Boston was playing on their heels in the second period. They were lucky to leave the ice down only 1-0. It could have and maybe should have been worse. Shots in the second period were PWHl Minnesota 16 (25 through two) for PWHL Boston 7 (14 through two).

PWHL Boston now had twenty minutes to change the narrative. The third period started five-on-five. The home team needed to generate some offense or they were going to watch PWHL Minnesota skate around Tsongas Center with the Walter Cup. An early chance for PWHL Minnesota came off the stick of Kendall Coyne Schofield who was in all alone with a backhand that was stopped by Frankel. While Frankel was standing on her head keeping the team in the game, PWHL Minnesota kept coming. It paid off in their second goal of the game. Cava, off a goalmouth scramble, stuffed home a shot past Frankel after skating circles around the PWHL Boston defense. Assists went to Channell and Taylor Heise. With eleven minutes to go PWHL Boston was down 2-0.

With 7;41 left in the game PWHL Boston had yet to put a shot on goal. Time was running out for the home team. Coach Kessell pulled Frankel with four and a half left in the third. It did not pay off as Coyne Schofield scored an empty net goal at 17:54. She took a cleaning pass from Cava, beat a PWHl Boston defender, and put the puck into the empty net. 3-0 PWHl Minnesota. The horn sounded and PWHL Minnesota took the game 3-0 and the series 3 games to 2. They walked away with the first-ever Walter Cup championship. PWHL Minnesota outshot PWHL Boston 19-3 in the third.

After the game, PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessell said it best “We ran out of steam.” Both the coach, Captain Hilary Knight, and Jamie Lee Rattray thanked the fans for their support all season. Both Knight and Rattray praised their goalie Arein Frankel for the way she played all season and especially in the playoffs. Knight called her the “best goalie in the league” while Rattray said, “She was our backbone.” There is one thing for sure to say about this team, They fought all the way to the end.

The MVP of the playoffs was PWHL Minnesota forward Taylor Heise who finished the playoffs with five goals and three assists for eight points.