Taylor Heise had two goals and an assist leading PWHL Minnesota. She lived up to her billing, but Minnesota couldn't get by Boston in game one of the PWHL Finals.
PWHL top draft pick Taylor Heise certainly lived up to her No. 1 selection with her performance in Sunday's opening game of the Walter Cup Finals at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
Coming off a two-goal performance in Game 5 against Toronto less than 48 hours earlier, the Minnesota forward continually skated circles around Boston defenders in all three zones. She was all over the ice and a factor on every shift.
Her three-point showing -- that included another two goals and an assist -- wasn't enough, however, as Minnesota's solid start and strong push in the third period couldn't overcome Boston's three-goal eruption during a five-goal, nine-plus minute span of a whirlwind second period.
Boston held on despite being outshot 13-7 over the final 20 minutes and remains undefeated in the 2023 PWHL playoffs with a 4-3 victory.
The hosts will try to keep their perfect post-season record intact on Tuesday night (May 21) in the second game of the best-of-five finale. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
"We did a lot of really good things (tonight)," Heise said. "We had some defensive lapses that we can just look at the tape at everything we did today and get better. It's not anything that can't be corrected. It's just realizing that you can take (control) at any moment and take advantage."
Minnesota did manage to take control at the game's outset when an interference penalty to Megan Keller put the visitors on the advantage just eight seconds into the contest.
Despite not scoring on that power play, Minnesota stayed aggressive in the offensive zone and it paid off when Michela Cava deposited a wraparound goal off a perfect feed from Heise for the 1-0 lead at the 4:38 mark of that first period. Natalie Buchbinder also had a helper on Cava's goal.
Ironically, Boston's first shot on net wasn't recorded until a little over seven minutes in but it found its mark as Susanna Tapani scored the equalizer.
From that point on until eight minutes into the second period, each squad engaged in a chess match of good transition, solid forechecking and effective puck movement.
That is, until Heise blasted a wrister that landed inside the top bar past Boston goalie Aerin Frankel to put Minnesota ahead 2-1. But that was the beginning of the five-goal barrage that ended at the 17:25 mark when Boston's Jess Healey scored what proved to be the game winner in the 4-3 outcome.
During that flurry of lighting the lamp, Heise added her second goal that was, like her first, assisted by Cava. Heise's linemate had both primary helpers and also produced a three-point performance for Minnesota. Kendall Coyne Schofield also assisted on Minnesota's third goal
All things considered, Minnesota Head Coach Ken Klee saw a lot of positives come out of the first game of the finals.
"I thought we were good (tonight)," Klee said. "l liked our energy, I liked our jump and I like the way we played."
Klee gave Boston credit for making the most of its chances against Maddie Rooney, who faced high-percentage shots among the 22 that the hosts threw at her.
"It wasn't any of those sleepy goals," Klee said. "They were all super hard earned. It just came down to them making one more play than us."
That one play wouldn't have been possible without Heise's contribution that she said was 100 percent the result of a team effort. Heise now has five points in her last two playoff games.
"It's hard not to be confident when you have players like we have who put the puck on your stick," Heise said. "Everyone pushes you so hard and you work so hard every day in practice. That push has been there all year and I've had nothing but confidence in my teammates."
Minnesota was down 2-0 in its semi-final series against Toronto and pulled off the reverse sweep to earn its place in the Walter Cup Finals.