With four wins in its first five games, Minnesota was looking very much like the class of the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League and has been at or near the top of the standings for most of the season.
Now, with two games remaining in the regular season, Minnesota is playing for its playoff life.
Needing one point to clinch a spot in the postseason, Minnesota was stunned by a late surge from Boston on Saturday, losing 2-1 before an announced crowd of 9,977 at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota has lost three straight.
Former Gophers standout Hannah Brandt scored the game-winner for Boston with less than three seconds to play, keeping her team’s playoff hopes alive.
Montreal beat Ottawa on Saturday to move into first place with 41 points, three points ahead of Toronto. Minnesota remains in third place with 35 points, three points ahead of Ottawa and Boston.
Minnesota, which finishes the regular season with two games on the road — Wednesday at Toronto and Saturday at New York — still needs one point to secure a playoff spot.
“Gut-wrenching,” was the way Minnesota coach Ken Klee described Saturday’s outcome.
Despite outshooting Boston 24-12 through two periods, Minnesota held only a 1-0 lead going into the final 20 minutes.
Boston then completely outplayed Minnesota in the third. Firing 18 shots at Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley, Boston pulled even with a power-play goal at 1:42 of the period before Brandt’s heroics in the final seconds.
“We’re just finding ways to lose hockey games right now,” Klee said, “which is unfortunate because we played well. We had lots of chances to get the lead, extend it. We were the better team for two periods and we found a way to lose it in the final two seconds.”
Understandably, Hensley said the Minnesota locker room was “pretty quiet” after the game. “You get that close to getting the point you need and you don’t get it, it’s pretty frustrating,” she said. “We need some people in that locker room to step up, including myself.”
Minnesota had plenty of quality scoring chances through the first two periods, but a problem that has plagued it for much of the season emerged once again: the inability to finish.
Minnesota outshot Boston 24-12 over the first two periods, but Kelly Pannek’s goal at 18:50 of the second was its only score.
“It’s easier to say than to do,” Klee said. “They’re trying. They’re getting great looks and they want to score goals.”
Offered Hensley: “It’s just about finishing and doing the right things at the right times.”
Boston completed the comeback by forcing the issue in the third. Minnesota responded by playing most of the period on its heels.
“I think our mindset changed,” Hensley said. “We went from pushing and pushing and trying to get a goal to, ‘OK, we have it, let’s just hold it.’ We took a couple not-so-good penalties and that put us on our heels a little bit.
“It gave them a little more momentum. Those things are going to cost you in the playoffs and at the end of the season here. It’s about bearing down without gripping your stick too tight.”
Brandt’s game-winner was the result of excellent execution by Boston and poor defense by Minnesota. After a Minnesota dump-in, a stretch pass to Hilary Knight gave Boston the puck at the Minnesota blue line.
Knight then made a quick pass to a streaking Brandt in the middle of the ice, and Brandt skated in alone on Hensley.
“There’s no reason for one pass to beat three of our forwards,” Klee said. “and then (Knight) made a good play. And then Hannah was obviously flying. But we can’t have one pass beat us, and certainly get a breakaway out of it.”
It left Minnesota in a less-than-comfortable position with two games to play but with a chance of its own to come through in the clutch.
“We have a lot of leadership that has played in World Championship gold-medal games, Olympic gold-medal games, national championship games in college,” Hensley said. “We have a lot of players who have played in a lot of important games and come out on top.
“People know how to do that. Again, it’s believing in our group and sticking with what has made us good over the course of the year.”
