Special Teams Key To Minnesota's Win

Minnesota scored their first power play goal of the season, and also scored a jailbreak shorthanded marker. It proved to be the difference in their win over Ottawa as Alex Wauthy writes.

After losing in overtime after blowing a 2-0 lead on Sunday, PWHL Minnesota completed a comeback of their own, overcoming a two-goal deficit and winning in extra time against PWHL Ottawa at TD Place.

Nicole Hensley's 24 saves, Grace Zumwinkle's shorthanded tally, and Susanna Tapani's two goals helped push Minnesota past Ottawa as they travelled north of the border for the first time this season.

Tapani got the party started for Minnesota under four minutes into the second period on the power play. A slick feed from Taylor Heise left Tapani wide-open near the top of the hash marks. She walked in and sniped it past Emerance Maschmeyer to cut Ottawa’s lead to one.

Later in the period, a tripping call against Tapani would send Ottawa to the power play, although they'd get just under a minute with the player advantage. Zumwinkle picked up a chip pass from Kelly Pannek and skated into Ottawa's zone. She shielded the puck from Amanda Boulier, drove to the net, and roofed a tough-angle shot past Maschmeyer. Her league-leading fifth of the season and first shorthanded goal knotted the game at two.

The game remained scoreless for the remainder of regulation, meaning overtime was needed to settle the stalemate. In the extra frame, Tapani's pass to Denisa Křížová deflected off an Ottawa player, hopped past Maschmeyer, and found its way into the net. Tapani's second of the night put Minnesota back in the win column as they held onto their perfect road record, defeating Ottawa 3-2.

Minnesota entered TD Place goalless on eight consecutive power plays. After the first period, they were goalless on nine. Nearly two minutes into the second frame, Minnesota would get their second power play opportunity of the game and tenth of the season.

A pass from Heise to Tapani gave the Finnish forward time and space to pick her target, and she beat Maschmeyer with a wicked shot. Tapani's tally was her first of the season and Minnesota's first marker with the player advantage.

Ottawa, who boasts the best power play percentage in the PWHL, had five opportunities with the player advantage throughout the match. They scored 51 seconds into their first power play, but Minnesota's penalty kill limited their chances on their remaining four.

Ottawa's most dangerous power plays—their first, second, and fourth—were dangerous for similar reasons. Two of the three featured Ottawa getting controlled entries. The one opportunity absent of this trait was their second power play, which saw them hold the line after multiple Minnesota clearing attempts and keep the puck in the offensive zone for 1:38 straight.

The first power play led to a goal, the second saw the puck ring off the post, and the fourth saw over a minute straight of offensive zone time, followed by back-to-back controlled entries leading to two high-danger chances. However, Minnesota did demonstrate good traits while on the penalty kill.

Even when Ottawa was cycling the puck, winning board battles, and looking lethal, they were kept mainly to the outside. Notably, Heise was a thorn in the side of Ottawa's power play, using her reach to deflect passes and occasionally chipping the puck out of her defensive end.

Where Minnesota's penalty kill thrived was on Ottawa's third and fifth attempts. Here, Minnesota limited controlled entries. Ottawa never gained control of the puck in the offensive zone on their third power play. This opportunity featured Zumwinkle's highlight reel 'jailbreak' goal and saw Minnesota's penalty kill aggressively attacking the puck carrier in every zone, completely neutralizing Ottawa's power play.

The fifth and final penalty kill, which came midway through the third period, saw Ottawa have two controlled entries. Still, Minnesota's aggressiveness in the neutral zone and clogging of shooting lanes left Ottawa primarily on the outside for most of the two minutes.

Ottawa's speed, passing ability, and net-front presence pushed Minnesota's penalty kill to its limits. However, only relinquishing one goal to the PWHL's top power play while scoring a shorthanded marker showcases how well Minnesota held Ottawa off.

After allowing two goals on Ottawa's first four shots, Hensley stonewalled the home team for the rest of the game en route to her league-high third win. She came up clutch in the third period, stopping Gabbie Hughes all alone in front with under six minutes remaining, then following it up with a sprawling stick save moments later. Hensley earned the second Star of the Night honors for her efforts.

Hensley posted a .923 save percentage (SV%) against Ottawa, which happens to be her third-best statistical performance of the season—her save percentage was a staggering .969 and .943 in her previous two victories.

Hensley is sporting a league-high .946 SV% through three games this season. Her save percentage is just .003 ahead of her teammate, Maddie Rooney, who owns the PWHL's best goals-against average with 1.45—Hensley is second with 1.65 GAA.

PWHL Minnesota hits the ice on Jan. 24 when they host PWHL Montreal at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota looks to remain flawless in regulation as Marie-Philip Poulin visits the State of Hockey.