What Courtney Kessel Said Has Plagued PWHL Boston In Playoffs

LOWELL, Mass. — PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota have both failed to score on the power play in the first two games of the Walter Cup Final.

While Minnesota was able to tally two goals on the man advantage in its first-round matchup with PWHL Toronto, Boston has not scored a power-play goal since January 24 against PWHL Ottawa.

After failing to capitalize on four Minnesota penalties in Game 2, Boston is now 0-for-14 on the power play in the playoffs.

“Obviously, something has to change,” Kessel said. “We did a few things throughout the year, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be the death of us if we can’t put a puck in the net on the power play.”

Minnesota tied the best-of-series 1-1 with its 3-0 shutout of Boston in Game 2 at Tsongas Center on Tuesday night, but Kessel liked her team’s chances despite being outshot 23-20 in the contest.

“I thought we battled to the end,” said Kessel. “I think we saw at the end of our (regular) season that we were fighting to get into the playoffs, and we’re fighting every second, and we’re gonna continue to see that out of our group.

“Our hope is that at some point our power play can put the puck in the back of the net. I think when you get that chance late in the game, and you’re down two, you really need that to go in, but we never gave up. I think that’s the most important thing.”

Boston is headed to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday. If the two clubs split the games at Xcel Energy Center, Game 5 would return to Tsongas Center on May 29 to decide the winner of the inaugural PWHL championship.