After completing the first series sweep of the Walter Cup Playoffs against Montreal, PWHL Boston is showing no signs of slowing down. Their next target? PWHL Minnesota. Boston has all eyes on the prize.
Boston was the first team to punch their ticket to the Walter Cup Finals, and they patiently waited to see who they would battle for the trophy: Toronto or Minnesota. Minnesota, who drafted the first-overall pick, Taylor Heise, ended up being their match after they defeated Toronto –the first seed in the playoffs– in a reverse sweep during the first round.
Game 1 of the best-of-five series of the PWHL Walter Cup Finals took place on Sunday, May 19 at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, where the home team beat Minnesota 4-3.
However, it wasn’t just the home crowd that helped Boston pull off the win.
Boston Brought The Depth
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If Boston’s first-round performance against Montreal was not enough to showcase the depth this team can put into action in the postseason, Game 1 of the Finals against Minnesota surely was. Sunday’s game saw four different players score for Boston, some of whom got their first goal of the postseason in this game.
Susanna Tapani, who scored two goals in the first round, was the first to get Boston on the board in the Finals, tying up the score 1-1 by scoring a goal off the rush and right off the post 12 minutes into the first period. This was an exciting goal for Boston fans for many reasons. It was not only the first goal of the series for Boston and Tapani’s third of the playoffs, but she scored against her former team for the first time since being traded.
In the second period, fourth-liner Taylor Wenczkowski put on a show to tie up the home team at 2-2. After laying a hit, she drove the puck to the offensive zone where she picked up a rebound and fired it past Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney. This was Wenczkowski’s second goal of the playoffs.
Boston’s third goal came from Hannah Brandt, who gave her team the lead for the first time in the game. This goal came with a little less than five minutes left in the second period and was Brandt’s first of the postseason.
Unsurprisingly, the score was tied up again, but Boston’s Jess Healey gave the team the go-ahead when she scored off a turnover to make it 4-3 with less than three minutes left in the second period. This was also Jess Healey’s first goal of the playoffs.
Having four different goal scorers goes to show that a team does not only need to rely on its stars. Boston is a team with a great majority of players who know how to play when it matters. Different names showing up on the scoreboard is a great intimidation tactic for the other team, who saw their #1 star score the majority of their goals.
An Entertaining Rally
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Game 1 was very back-and-forth, and one can expect to see this continue throughout the rest of the series. Boston and Minnesota know how to score goals, and they both have what it takes to answer back when the other team calls.
This was a great contrast to Round 1 of Boston’s series, which was very low-scoring and an excellent showcase of each side’s talented goaltending. This game allowed Boston and Minnesota to take advantage of their 60 minutes. Minnesota took no penalties for the first time all season and had three power-play opportunities. However, all goals were scored at even strength.
The shots on goal were 33-22 in favor of Minnesota, which is another prime example of how good Aerin Frankel is at stopping shots. While she let more Minnesota pucks slip through than Montreal, she hed on all third period and did not allow Minnesota to tie up the game again in Game 1.
Seeing both sides put in an equal amount of effort and both get rewarded for it boosts morale for both teams, not just the team that wins.
Minnesota’s Star Shines
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Taylor Heise is a playoff player. The first-overall draft pick proved to the world just how talented she is, and how well she is able to play when the stakes are high.
She led Minnesota in shots on goal with five of them and scored two out of the three goals for the team. She now has four goals in the last two postseason games and matched a career-high for points. Heise is also leading the league in playoff points, with five in her past two games, as she also recorded an assist on the initial Minnesota goal this game.
Heise is going to be a force to be reckoned with in this series, and Boston will have to brace themselves for what she will bring in the upcoming games.
Looking Forward
Game 2 of the Walter Cup Final will take place on Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. EST at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts. The game will be nationally streamed on YouTube and the Women’s Sports Network.
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About the Author
River Caraballo (she/they) is a hockey writer for Total Apex Sports. Despite being based in Connecticut, she is a big fan of the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild. They host a weekly podcast and radio show, Round the Rink, where they discuss hockey from the NHL to the PWHL and college hockey. You can follow River on Twitter/X to keep up with her sports content.
