PWHL Walter Cup Finals: Boston’s Depth Critical For Game 2

PWHL Boston has been opportunistic throughout its playoff run.

And Boston has quite the opportunity in front of itself when it takes the ice for Game 2 of the Walter Cup Finals against PWHL Minnesota on Tuesday night at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.

Boston already holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five championship series after earning a narrow 4-3 victory in Game 1 on Sunday night. Boston winning another pivotal playoff contest on home ice would put Minnesota in quite the hole and force it to win three straight games in order to lift the trophy.

Boston should reuse the same recipe that worked so well for it in Game 1 and rely on its depth to skate away with a commanding lead in the series. Boston had four different goal-scorers in Game 1 with Susanna Tapani, who Boston acquired in the middle of the season from Minnesota, Taylor Wenczkowski, Hannah Brandt and Jess Healey all finding the back of the net. Wenczkowski and Brandt even shared the same stick to score their goals.

“Our offense has been a big focus,” Boston head coach Courtney Kessel told reporters after Game 1, per The Boston Globe. “Getting the puck in the net and scoring more than one or two goals. We needed that.”

While Boston had plenty of contributors to its offensive attack, the same can’t be said for Minnesota. Minnesota relied heavily on its top line of Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise and Michela Cava to generate offense. The trio factored in on all three of Minnesota’s goals with Heise scoring twice.

Slowing down Minnesota’s first line certainly will be a priority for Boston. Star goalie Aerin Frankel will be a big part of that. She stopped 30-of-33 shots in Game 1 after shutting down PWHL Montreal in Boston’s opening-round series with some incredible performances, including two 50-plus-save showings.

“She is a tremendous hockey player,” Kessel said. “She’s small and she’s mighty, and we’re going to continue to lean on her.”

Game 2 between Boston and Minnesota is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game on NESN+.