Grace Zumwinkle and Sophia Kunin lift PWHL Minnesota over Ottawa 2-1

Nicole Hensley made 28 saves as Minnesota swept a home-and-home with Ottawa.

February 17, 2024 at 11:22PM
PWHL Minnesota's Nicole Hensley (29) celebrated with Denise Krizova after the team's victory at Ottawa on Saturday. (Justin Tang)

OTTAWA – Grace Zumwinkle and Sophia Kunin scored to lead PWHL Minnesota past Ottawa 2-1, sweeping swept the home-and-home series on Saturday.

Nicole Hensley stopped 28 shots for Minnesota (5-2-2-2).

Emily Clark scored the lone goal for Ottawa (2-0-4-3), which is mired in a five-game losing streak. Emerance Maschmeyer made 22 saves.

Minnesota captured a 2-1 home victory Wednesday and is 3-0 against Ottawa on the season.

Ottawa opened the third period trailing 2-1 but couldn’t tie the score. Minnesota played a solid defensive game, holding the home team to just five shots in the frame.

Shortly after a great chance by Kendall Coyne Schofield, Ottawa went down ice to tie the game 1-1. Gabbie Hughes saw Amanda Boulier but she seemed to fool Hensley by passing to Clark, who scored at 10:04 of the second.

However, Minnesota regained the lead when Zumwinkle raised the puck over a sprawled Maschmeyer with 18.1 seconds remaining in the period.

Both teams had solid scoring chances in the first but a collision at center ice resulted in the opening goal. It permitted Kunin to grab the loose puck, break in alone and thread a shot between Maschmeyer’s pads late in the period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Maschmeyer made her eighth start Saturday. She’s the league’s only goaltender to appear in every one of her team’s games this season.

Minnesota returns to action Sunday in Montreal.

about the writer

about the writer

More from Sports

card image

The Wild tallied their second victory over the past seven games after getting two players back from injury, including goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

card image
card image