PWHL Minnesota (1-0-0-0) heads home to Xcel Energy Center for the first time this season as they host Marie-Philip Poulin and PWHL Montreal (1-0-0-0).
PWHL Minnesota (1-0-0-0) heads home to Xcel Energy Center for the first time this season as they host Marie-Philip Poulin and PWHL Montreal (1-0-0-0).
Minnesota will look to become the first team in PWHL history to win at home, as each victor so far has been the visiting squad.
Minnesota Making History
Four days ago, Ottawa set the professional women’s hockey attendance record as 8,318 fans piled into TD Place. The historic night saw Ottawa welcome Montreal into their home venue as fans excitedly watched the two Canadian teams square off.
While Ottawa’s feat is undoubtedly impressive, Minnesota will smash this record today, with over 10,000 tickets already sold to eager fans waiting to see Taylor Heise, Nicole Hensley, Kendall Coyne, and their home state team live for the first time.
Players to Watch
Lee Stecklein - Easily lost in Minnesota’s historic 3-2 win over PWHL Boston was the penalty trouble their top defender, Lee Stecklein, found herself in. Stecklein is a calming presence on the ice. Her defensive awareness, shot-blocking ability, and stickwork are elite, but her wandering stick got her in trouble Wednesday night. Stecklein took three of Minnesota’s four penalties. Her first offense was a hooking call in the first period. Then, in the third, a second hooking call and a trip on Megan Keller sent her to the box two more times. Minnesota’s penalty kill only gave up one goal on the player disadvantage with Stecklein in the sin bin, but they severely pushed their luck, as Boston used these opportunities to swing momentum in their favor.
Stecklein impressed when on the ice Wednesday night, and Minnesota’s defense squashed any queries about its depth early on. Still, finding success against Montreal and their offensive weapons will be challenging if the infractions continue. Stecklein will take on shutting down Montreal’s lethal first line of Poulin, Tereza Vanišová, and Maureen Murphy, and knowing her ability and poise, she will make life hard for Montreal’s top line.
Marie-Philip Poulin - Poulin is always THE player to watch game in and game out. The three-time Olympic gold medalist didn’t find the back of the net in her PWHL debut, but she did record an assist, helping Montreal spoil Ottawa’s home opener. In addition to the assist, Poulin recorded her own historic first, becoming the first player in league history to be awarded a penalty shot after getting tripped up on a breakaway. On the ensuing opportunity, Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer shut the door on the Canadian superstar. Despite getting stonewalled, Poulin flashed her speed, stick-handling ability, and offensive awareness on the play. It’s hard to imagine Poulin will stay goalless for much longer, making her an obvious threat to score against Minnesota.
The Face-off Battle
How Heise matches up against Poulin will be intriguing to track when the puck drops at Xcel Energy Center. Both players possess similar attributes—a lethal shot, incredible work ethic, high IQ, and a strong two-way presence. Each has little to no holes in their game. Heise demonstrated her defensive prowess against Boston, deflecting passes and hustling for loose pucks on the penalty kill while flashing her wicked shot, scoring under five minutes into her PWHL debut.
“She [Heise] is very smart and makes a lot of good plays with the puck,” Hensley said. “I’m just looking forward to kind of watching her flourish in this environment.”
While Heise looked like a seasoned vet in her professional debut, one area where she lacked success was the face-off circle. She went 3 for 14—21.4%—in draws on Jan. 3.
Historically, Heise is exceptional at faceoffs. She led the NCAA in face-off wins last season with 539 and only had five games where she lost more face-offs than she won—the biggest margin of loss being five. Additionally, Heise won 62.37% of her draws at the World Championships. It’s doubtful these first-game struggles persist, but given that Poulin will be lining up opposite her, she may not dominate the dot as she did in college. Poulin took 25 faceoffs against Ottawa on Jan. 2. The veteran won 16 of those 25, winning 64% in the circle and will aim to continue her success against Heise and Co.
Catch the game on Bally Sports North, Sportsnet Pittsburgh, CBC, and RDS2, or stream it on the official PWHL YouTube channel at 2:30 p.m. CT, 3:30 p.m. ET.