ST. PAUL, Minn. — It took Taylor Heise less than one minute to get the 9,054 fans at the Xcel Energy Center on their feet.
The Minnesota first-overall pick jumped on a loose puck in the slot and beat Aerin Frankel for her fifth goal in four games. Minnesota wouldn’t relinquish that early lead en route to a 4-1 win in Game 3.
TAYLOR HEISE SNIPE 🎯
Minnesota takes a 1-0 lead just under a minute into the game.#PWHL pic.twitter.com/dxtN5i4Od8
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 24, 2024
Since scoring the series-clinching goal against Toronto in the semifinals, Heise has been a difference-maker for Minnesota, with five goals and seven points in her last four games — three of which were wins.
Sydney Brodt scored the game-winner late in the first period and Michela Cava continued her hot streak with an excellent individual effort to beat Aerin Frankel in the third period. Grace Zumwinkle got her first career playoff point with an empty net goal to put the game out of reach. Nicole Hensley won her second-straight start with 18 saves on 19 shots.
Minnesota now holds a 2-1 series lead and will have a chance to win the Walter Cup when they host Game 4 on Sunday night.
Here are three quick takeaways from tonight’s game.
Sydney Brodt’s timely first
It was nice to see Sydney Brodt get on the scoresheet on Friday night.
She’s a Minnesota native, played for the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the Minnesota Whitecaps — and didn’t have an easy start to her PWHL career.
The 25-year-old forward sustained a lower-body injury in the first game of the league’s preseason camp in Utica, N.Y., back in December, which required surgery and months of rehab.
“It definitely sucked,” Brodt told The Athletic in March. “But at the same time, I got a different perspective on the league and the excitement around it.”
Brodt made her regular season debut on March 16 and, on Friday night, scored her first career goal at 17:38 in the first period. That would double Minnesota’s lead heading into the first intermission — that would prove to be the game-winner.
Brodt has largely played a depth role for Minnesota, and played on the fourth line on Friday night. But that’s exactly the kind of secondary scoring general manager Natalie Darwitz was hoping for when Brodt made her return to the lineup.
“It’s your role players that win championships,” Darwitz said in an interview back in March when Brodt made her debut. “If we can up our game and have Sophia Kunin, Liz Schepers and Syd Brodt scoring goals for us I think we’re going to be in good shape.”
Boston comes out flat in the second
It took almost 12 minutes into the second period for Boston to register a shot on goal against Nicole Hensley. Aerin Frankel was tested more frequently in the period (11 shots on goal), but did well to keep the game in reach.
Boston eventually got some chances — with five shots in the final eight minutes of the period. Their best chance came in the dying seconds of the period with a Susanna Tapani backhand pass to Alina Müller on the doorstep. Müller scored with 1.4 seconds left in the frame to keep Boston in the game with one period to go.
Alina Müller keeps us right in it! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/w5CRFdwbny
— x – PWHL Boston (@PWHL_Boston) May 25, 2024
That was Müller’s first goal of the playoffs, and Boston’s first goal since Jess Healey’s game-winner in the second period of Game 1. Boston’s offense was a question mark all season, despite having several players who should be capable of carrying an offense.
The team only managed 2.08 goals per game in the regular season. That’s good enough on nights when Frankel is locked in. But only scoring one or two goals isn’t good enough when you put yourselves in a 2-0 hole in the first period of a playoff game.
Michela Cava stays hot
Forgive me if you’ve heard this already during the PWHL Finals but Cava has heated up at exactly the right time. After going scoreless through the semifinals, she has goals in three straight games and six points in the Finals.
In the third period, Cava stickhandled around defender Emily Brown, lost the puck, got it back, and still beat an outstretched Frankel. Credit to Kendall Coyne Schofield too for driving the net, taking Tapani with her and some of the attention away from a driving Cava.
Cava kicking off P3 in style! 😎 https://t.co/KbxJpObmAm pic.twitter.com/AylBW6yp9j
— PWHL Minnesota (@PWHL_Minnesota) May 25, 2024
She’s certainly in contention for the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award at this point, which would be her second-straight playoff MVP after winning it last year in the Premier Hockey Federation.
(Photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
