You aren’t gonna win many games in which you do not score a goal.
Boston got the memo and came out of the gates ready to play. The arena was full and loud and Boston fed off of it. Early on the ice was tilted towards Nicole Hensley who returned to the net for the first time since Game 1 of their previous series. They took six shots early and created some dangerous opportunities. At this point though Alina Mueller handled the puck poorly at the blue line which led to a 2 on 1 with only Keller back to defend, Minnesota shot the puck off her stick and the puck bounced over Frankel, and although it wasn’t known at the time this Wass all they would need. After this Boston’s shot on Hensley started to dry up despite the flow of the game continuing to move quickly. Former Boston defender Sophie Jaques made her mark on the series with her first career playoff goals.
The second saw Boston put a puck behind Hensley early that seemed to flip momentum and get the crowd back in it. In the end though the referees decided the whistle had been blown ad the play was dead, but still proceeded to take a very lengthy review that had no bearing because a whistled down play is not actually reviewable. Bothe teams were playing hard but there seemed to be very few opportunities on either side. Boston would get their first PP of the series late in this frame, but as has been the issue all season they were unable to generate any real threats. There would be one more PP in the waning time of the period that was another dud.
The third started with a very short PP leftover, and the time allowed Boston to get set up in the zone but nothing came from it. Boston would spend the rest of the game trying to find that elusive first goal. They would have two more ineffective power plays. They would also go on the PK after Jess Digirolomo was assessed a major at first but was downgraded to only a minor. Boston would pull Frankel late but turned the puck over shortly which led to an ENG by Jaques.
Game Notes
- While Boston was only outshot 23-20 they still can not hit double digit shots in a period.
- Neither Frankel nor Hensley so much in the way of shots as the total shots in the game only hit 43. Each goalie stopped 20 shots but Boston never solved Hensley in a way that counted.
- The crowd did not disappoint even if they left disappointed. Despite the midweek night game, and heavy traffic getting to the rink Tsongas was mostly full and the entire crowd was quick to respond when any exciting or controversial plays happened.
- Game 3 sees the series move to Minnesota, as they have flipped home ice, on Friday.