OTTAWA – Grace Zumwinkle and Sophia Kunin scored to lead PWHL Minnesota past Ottawa 2-1, sweeping swept the home-and-home series on Saturday.
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.
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.
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The Wild tallied their second victory over the past seven games after getting two players back from injury, including goaltender Filip Gustavsson.