PWHL Minnesota wins Game 3 over Boston, take 2-1 series lead

When Grace Zumwinkle scored an empty netter with just over three minutes to go, a jailbreak goal after PWHL Boston tried pulling the goalie with the power play, PWHL Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Center let out its loudest pop of the spring.

A crowd of 9,054 saw a battle-tested Minnesota squad come out with a 4-1 victory Friday night, giving them a 2-1 series lead and a chance to clinch both the series and the league’s inaugural Walter Cup championship.

It didn’t take long for the home team to get their fans into the game. Just 59 seconds into the first period, Minnesota took advantage of a Boston turnover, with a loose puck finding the stick of Taylor Heise, who buried her fifth of the playoffs.

Minnesota would close out the second frame with a 2-0 lead after Sydney Brodt buried a loose puck in the Boston crease.

Not only was it Brodt’s first of the playoffs, but the first of her PWHL career, as the 26-year-old played only seven regular games.

Minnesota outplayed Boston for most of the second period, and the road team wasn’t able to respond until there was one second left on the clock. Jamie Lee Rattray found Susanna Tapani down low, who fed a pass to Alina Muller, who in turn buried it past Nicole Hensley to make it 2-1 going into the third period.

Minnesota came out looking like a team determined to win, with Michela Cava stickhandling two Boston players out of their skates and putting the puck past Aerin Frankel to give Minnesota a 3-1 lead.

Zumwinkle’s empty netter, her first goal of the postseason, would seal the 4-1 win for Minnesota. The crowd’s chant of “We want the cup!” echoed through the Xcel Energy Center, as fans know their team is one win away from taking the league’s first title.

Game 4 takes place Sunday at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT in Minnesota.