As it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end. Boston will open and close the season with PWHL Minnesota.
Schedule:
Boston (3) vs Minnesota (4)
Sunday May 19
Game 1: Minnesota at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) at 5:00 p.m. ET
Tuesday May 21
Game 2: Minnesota at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) at 7:00 p.m. ET
Friday May 24
Game 3: Boston at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunday May 26*
Game 4: Boston at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center) at 6:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday May 29*
Game 5: Minnesota at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) at 7:00 pm. ET
*If necessary
Once again Boston gets unlucky with he timing of the home games, but this time Lowell will see playoff hockey at least twice.
Season Look Back:
Game 1: 03January Boston 2 v Minnesota 3
Game 2: 27 January Boston 4 v Minnesota 3 (OT)
Game 3: 25February Boston 2 @ Minnesota 0
Game 4: 13March Boston 0 @ Minnesota 4
Game 5: 27April Boston 2 @ Minnesota 1
These teams haven’t played in Lowell since January after playing twice that month in the barn. They opened the season against each other which saw Minnesota score three* unanswered goals, the first of which was controversially never confirmed to cross the line, and held on for a one goal victory. Every game these two teams have played have been close except for a blowout on the part of Minnesota. Boston won the series 8-7 when they scored a last second goal in Minnesota down the final stretch.
Opponents to Watch:
Kendall Coyne, Sophie Jaques, Maddie Rooney:
Coyne is a former team USA captain that played her college hockey here in Boston. In a few weeks you will also hear her voice if you go to see Pixar’s Inside Out 2. While she is only scoring at 2⁄3 of a point per game she is still a dangerous presence.
Jaques was originally on Boston but then as part of the first trade in league history when Boston obtained OT hero Susanna Tappani. After not scoring anything in a Boston uniform she has tallied 10 points in 15 games. She will undoubtedly be looking to prove Boston wrong for giving up on her this series, though she is likely due a ring either way.
Rooney has stolen the net from USA backup Nicole Hensley, who had taken the USA net from her after winning Olympic Gold in 2018. Game 1 of the play offs saw Hensley let up 4 goals, and she never saw the ice again. Rooney then proceeded to allow 1 goal in a regulation loss before earning a pair of home shutouts to even the series, including a 2OT thriller in Game 4. She then allowed only one goal on the road to advance to the finals.
Outlook:
Once again it was another tight series, this time Boston was able to edge out Minnesota with the 5th game. At the end of the season Boston was the hottest team in the league which they continued through their first round series, sweeping Montreal. Minnesota was the coldest. Having squandered a big lead for a playoff spot it came down to the last day of the season with Minnesota not even controlling their destiny needing Ottawa to not win in regulation, which luckily for them came to be. Then in the playoffs they were shutout twice to start their series before reverse sweeping the run away top seed in the league.
Bothe teams have a hot goalie and both teams have had some clutch scoring of late, but you have to think Boston having an extra couple of days off plus home ice should give them a slight edge. It should be a good series but in the end Boston just seems to be peaking at the perfect time.