On Sunday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, PWHL New York and PWHL Minnesota squared off against each other for just the second time this season. For Minnesota, Sunday’s game was the second half of a back-to-back, losing 4-3 in overtime to Boston just hours earlier. New York also came into the matchup with a loss as they wrapped up their four-game road trip in Toronto and suffered a 2-0 loss. Coming into Sunday, both teams were eager to get back into the win column. Minnesota was able to grind it out as they came away with a 2-1 win in overtime.
To start off the first period, both teams came out with a burst of energy in their games and both sides would get their fair share of offensive opportunities, but neither team could capitalize. The goalies from both teams, Minnesota’s Nicole Hensley and New York’s Abigail Levy, were spectacular in net from puck drop and made key saves early on to keep their team in the game.
Minnesota would get one past Levy with less than five minutes to go in the period when Abby Cook rocketed one past the New York netminder from the top of the offensive zone with the help of a screen up front. Minnesota would head into the second period with the 1-0 lead.
To start the second period, both teams came out with the same energy as the first which once again led to opportunities for both sides. New York found themselves on a 3-on-1 opportunity, but failed to capitalize on the chance, but the missed chance resulted in a powerplay. New York would once again find themselves with a high danger scoring opportunity, and this time it seemed as if they had capitalized as the puck had crossed the goal line, but the goal didn’t stand as the referee blew the play dead before the goal was scored.
Toward the end of the period, tensions began to rise between the two sides as scrums insinuated after almost every whistle. Minnesota would take a late penalty, but New York couldn’t score before the period ended and the score would remain 1-0 Minnesota heading into the third period.
New York had all the momentum to start off the third period which ultimately led to them scoring the game-tying goal not even 30 seconds into the period. Ella Shelton sniped one bar down on Hensley for the power play goal after Micah Zandee-Hart fooled the opposition with a no-look pass. Throughout the period the intensity between the two sides only grew as the opportunities on both sides kept adding it. Despite the number of opportunities, neither side could break the tie, causing the game to head to overtime.
As the puck dropped on the overtime period, the fast and intense play from the previous three periods didn’t go anywhere. Both sides got their fair share of opportunities to put away the game winner, and the overtime hero of this game would be Minnesota’s Abby Boreen who deflected a rebound created by Kelly Pannek after her shot went off the pads of Levy.
With this loss, New York drops their second game in a row, but they will have a week to fix up their game plan before their next game. New York will be back on the road next Sunday as they visit Ottawa to play a matinee game.
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