In the battle for women’s pro hockey supremacy, chalk one up for the Americans. Actually, chalk two.
PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota are the last teams standing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoffs. They will start the best-of-five Walter Cup finals Sunday in Boston, in an all-American conclusion to the league’s inaugural season. Here’s the lowdown on the showdown.
The schedule
Boston plays host to Game 1 (4 p.m. Sunday) and Game 2 (6 p.m. Tuesday) at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. The series moves to Xcel Energy Center for Game 3 (6 p.m. Friday). If Game 4 is needed, it will be at Xcel (5 p.m. May 26), with a potential Game 5 at Tsongas Center (6 p.m. May 29).
All games will be livestreamed on the PWHL’s YouTube channel. Select games also will be televised on Bally Sports North.
How they got here
Third-seeded Boston swept No. 2 seed Montreal in the semifinals, winning all three games in overtime. No. 4 seed Minnesota — which barely made the playoffs — rallied to beat top seed Toronto, overcoming a 2-0 series deficit with three consecutive victories.
While Boston has won seven of its past eight games, Minnesota made a dramatic turnaround in one week. After spending most of the season at or near the top of the PWHL standings, it took a late-season nosedive, losing seven consecutive games. That skid included a pair of shutout losses in Toronto to begin the playoffs.
One more loss would have ended its season. Minnesota responded with two shutout victories at Xcel, including a 1-0, double-overtime victory in Game 4. Goaltender Maddie Rooney gave up only one goal in the final three games of the semis, and Minnesota ended the series with a 4-1 win at Toronto on Friday.
The matchup
Boston and Minnesota had identical records in the regular season, with eight regulation wins, four overtime wins, three OT losses and nine regulation losses. Though Boston won three of the five games between the teams, Minnesota held a slim 11-10 edge in goals scored.