The Walter Cup Playoffs got rolling on Wednesday with Toronto handling Minnesota by a score of 4-1; however, this isn’t about them. This is about professional hockey’s greatest municipal rivalry finding the brightest of lights in a new league. PWHL Boston visits PWHL Montreal in Place Bell for Game 1 after splitting the season series with two wins and two losses each. The series offers us a showdown between two future hockey hall-of-famers in Hilary Knight and Marie-Philip Poulin. It also gives us another showdown between Ann-Renee Desbiens and Aerin Frankel.

               The opening period of the game was dominated in possession and chances by Montreal (Shots by a marker of 12-2) but only had a couple of major events. Lauren Stacey had a pair of remarkable chances at the 2:30 and 18:30 marks in the opening period; however, Frankel came up huge for PWHL Boston. Aside from those two impact saves, the opening frame was very tightly checked in the neutral zone, leading to a low number of shots for Boston, and low number of high-quality shots for Montreal.

               The second period opened with Montreal continuing their power play from the end of the first. Just over a minute into the period, Kristin O’Neill was able to beat Frankel high on redirection off Frankel’s glove above her own head to make get the score to 1-0. The first seven minutes of the period saw more open ice and stretch passes than the first period; however, both teams consistently failed to connect or generate anything substantial from these attempts. Just before the 9-minute mark of the period Frankel would make an acrobatic save on Grant-Mentis in the slot. Frankel would come up big again against a great opportunity for Poulin on the power play just past the midway point in the period. Around the 15-minute mark, Boston, anchored by Tapani and Adzija, was finally able to maintain enough possession to make the game interesting. However, Poulin would manufacture one more chance before the end of the period, which was once again stopped by Frankel.

               The third period opened with a bang as Sophie Shirley broke into the Montreal zone less than two minutes in and connected with Adzija for a tip-in goal past Desbiens to even the game at one. The first six minutes of the period were marred by ref-puck that slowed the momentum of the game, but not long after the teams returned to five a side the game started to open up with space in the neutral zone. Maureen Murphy and Gigi Marvin would both have impressive possessions and transition plays around the midway mark of the period, but neither of them were able to create the go ahead goal. Just past the tenth minute Poulin attempted a deft wraparound but was sealed off by Frankel again. At the 11:45 mark, O’Neill set up a great cycle for Montreal that would lead to a scoring chance around the 15-minute point, but Frankel would come up huge again. At the 17-minute mark, Montreal would ice the puck, and end up getting hemmed down for an extended period, but despite Megan Keller’s best efforts, Boston could not find the go-ahead goal. Grant-Mentis had a pair of looks with open space in the closing minutes of regulation, but she was unable to create or finish either chance.

               The Overtime period opened with a more wide-open approach than the first 60 minutes, as all the stars began to push the pace and create chances in transition and in their zone setups. Just over four minutes into the period, Frankel robbed Murphy point blank from the goal line. Despite not finishing, Murphy would make a huge block on a shot attempt against Alina Muller to kill a scoring chance for Boston. Stacey would spring for a breakaway just over the halfway point in the period but would miss the net wide on her scoring bid. Following a slashing penalty by Keller, Montreal would sustain immense pressure on Boston, but couldn’t find the game winner. With just under four minutes remaining, Keller would come down the wall and direct a shot on net, Theresa Schafzahl would coral the rebound toward the goal line, and Susanna Tapani would become an overtime hero for PWHL Boston.

               Overall, game one told us that this series is going to be iconic for the PWHL. This game was everything that this league needed it to be following the 4-0 drubbing in Toronto on Wednesday night. Aerin Frankel stopping 53 of 54 in the shadow of Jeremy Swayman’s performances in the NHL in the Bruins current playoff run is massive for the league, as it creates a narrative that will attract more New England hockey fans into the fold. The stars for Montreal were exceptional in this game as always, and they will be great again on Saturday night. As a lifelong Ducks fan, seeing a Finnish woman score the first OT game winner in PWHL Boston history was special for me after being treated to conclusion of Jari Kurri’s career, the greatness that was Teemu Selanne, and the end of Saku Koivu’s career. As a lifelong Finnish hockey fan, I hope that Boston fans get the chance to remember Tapani’s heroics tonight like I remembered my Finnish men’s heroics.