On January 14^th, PWHL New York and PWHL Minnesota played each other for the first time in league history (In Minnesota), with New York winning 3-2 in overtime after trailing by 2 in the first period. The first time around, Corrine Schroeder starred for New York with 39 saves on 41 shots with Emma Woods being the overtime hero. This time around, in New York, both teams turned to their other goalies in Abigail Levy (New York) and Nicole Hensley (Minnesota).

               The first period of this contest was even with New York holding a 10-9 edge in shots during the frame. Minnesota managed to break through late in the first period with a goal from Abby Cook with assists from Kendall Coyne Schofield and Kelly Pannek. For the Minnesota group, shortly after this goal was scored, it appeared that the fatigue of their back-to-back matinees with less than 24 hours between puck drops started to settle in. Maggie Flaherty would take a hooking call less than two minutes after the goal, which would set a string of minor penalties into effect for Minnesota. The second period saw New York outshoot Minnesota 17 to 6, with Minnesota taking 4 minor penalties, 3 of which led to New York power-play chances. Pannek’s late period tripping minor would allow New York to find the equalizer 20-seconds into the third period on an absolute blast from Ella Shelton (Apples from Micah Zandee-Hart and Alex Carpenter). Following the game-tying goal, Ken Klee’s team dug deep and found another round of fight in themselves. Minnesota took over possession and control of the game in the third by outshooting New York 17 to 5, but Levy was infallible against the most ingenious chances Minnesota’s best could send her way. Regulation would conclude at one aside before we dropped into the most wide-open overtime period of the season so far. Levy stopped 4 great chances from Minnesota in the first two minutes of the period, with Hensley adequately stopping both shots she saw. Ironically, Hensley’s best play of the OT was not a save, but rather was challenging New York’s forecheck to prevent a breakaway to hit a streaking Pannek in the neutral zone, which Pannek would leverage to find Abby Boreen for the game winning goal.

               Overall, this was another exciting game featuring the PWHL Minnesota women, and another big step forward for them. Yesterday, I spoke to Klee needing to complete the Zumwinkle-Heise line, but today, Minnesota proved that their depth players in Pannek, Coyne Schofield, and Cook can get the job done when the top line is held in check by a great opponent. Hensley was phenomenal for Minnesota again, and in this contest showed off her game sense and hockey IQ to be able to pick up 2 points for the team. For New York, Levy made a big statement that she can keep pace with Schroeder on any given night and locking in step with Montreal as a team with an unreal 2-goalie tandem. Finally, Ella Shelton’s play in both ends of the ice has been magnificent. She’s up to 8 points in 8 games for New York, and in this matchup especially was instrumental in preventing Minnesota’s top line from taking over the game.