Step aside, Auston Matthews. Women's hockey is taking center stage in Toronto as Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse & Co. open the PWHL playoffs against Minnesota on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the sport's most prominent faces, Boston's Hilary Knight and Montreal's Marie-Philippe Poulain, will put a new wrinkle on the long-standing U.S.-Canada rivalry in the PWHL's other semifinal, which begins Thursday. Adding.
“It's a chance to win again, right?” Knight said of facing Poulin in the professional arena after a thrilling 6-5 overtime loss in the gold medal match at the women's world championship last month.
“You've heard of these two names, and what an incredible matchup (for fans), a true Original Six matchup,” she added. “If you can get away from me as a competitor, I think that's what you want.”
The first season of the Women's Professional Hockey League continued to feature stars, ultimately bringing together the world's best players under one umbrella. After a 72-game regular season that drew record crowds, with the playoffs undecided until the final horn sounded on Sunday, the PWHL enters the postseason with two best-of-five series filled with subplots .
Toronto doesn't often play in the Stanley Cup, and has never made it to the finals since the Maple Leafs won it in 1967, but the PWHL team is doing well, taking first place in the standings.
“First of all, I have to say I'm disappointed it's over for the Leafs,” Toronto captain Breia Turnbull said, referring to the Leafs' most recent first-round exit, a Game 7 loss to Boston last weekend. “I was hoping they would get away with it a little bit. But I think it's really exciting that we're in the spotlight now.”
By finishing in first place, Toronto earned the right to choose their opponent, and it was a matchup between No. 4 Minnesota and No. 3 Boston. Both teams finished with the same record, 12 wins, 9 losses, and 3 losses, with Boston holding the tiebreaker advantage.
A factor in this decision was that Toronto went 3-1 against Minnesota in the regular season, but went 3-2 against Boston. Another potential advantage is that Minnesota went into the playoffs in five straight games, while Boston was shut out 3-1-1, including a 2-1 win over Toronto.
For Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne-Schofield, the playoffs mean a new start.
“You have to look at the whole season. I think it's very easy to look at the last five games and think about what went wrong,” Coyne Schofield said. “We've made some great hockey this year. … And we're looking forward to going to Toronto with a clean slate.”
There was pressure on Montreal to win, and the 1993 Canadians were the last Canadian team to win the Cup.
“I think this is obviously something that all of the Montreal coaches don't take lightly,” Montreal coach Cori Cheverley said. “If we can bring the championship back to Montreal, all the teams will be celebrating and it will be very exciting for the fans and for the city.”
Toronto vs. Minnesota
Minnesota's lineup is packed with current and former U.S. players, from Coyne Schofield and Grace Zumwinkle to Kelly Panek, Taylor Heise and Lee Stecklein. And they're backed by the same tandem that led the U.S. to gold at the 2018 Olympics: Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney.
There's a Canadian national team atmosphere in Toronto, with a brain trust consisting of Canadian national team GM Gina Kingsbury and coach Troy Ryan.
The roster has three players who rank in the top 10 in league scoring, led by Spooner, who led the league with 20 goals and 27 points. On the net, Kristen Campbell led the league with 16 wins, three shutouts, and 22 games played. , ranks second with a 1.99 goals against average.
The University of Minnesota fell into a slump at the end of the season, but Toronto overcame a 2-5 start and won 11 straight games, finishing with 17 wins and 7 losses.
Minnesota coach Ken Clay was pleased that Toronto chose his team as an opponent. The former NHL defenseman laughed as he said his family was already in Toronto this week to attend the wedding.
Montreal vs. Boston
The teams evenly split the four-game season series, with three games decided by one goal and two games decided in overtime. The last time they met was on Saturday, when Boston clinched a playoff berth with a 4-3 victory on Kayleigh Fratkin's goal with 80 seconds left in regulation.
Boston scored 50 goals, the fewest in the league, and Swiss star Alina Muller had four goals and a team-high 16 points. The team was strengthened by the acquisition of Finland's Susannah Tapani and Lexi Aziya in midseason trades, filling Boston's midfield needs.
Knight had a middling season with six goals and 11 points, but U.S. national team defenseman Megan Keller showed off her two-way ability with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) and second place on the team with a rating of 9 or above.
The goaltending matchup will pit two national team starters, American Aerin Frankel of Boston and Canadian Henri Desbiens of Montreal.
Poulin, who leads second-place Montreal, finished tied for second in the points race with 10 goals and 13 assists despite missing three games with a lower-body injury. The core of the team is rounded out by Laura Stacy, who is engaged to Poulin, and Erin Ambrose, who finished second among PWHL defensemen with 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists).
Behind the bench are two of the league's three female coaches: Montreal's Cheveley and Boston's Courtney Kessel. The two also serve as Team Canada assistants under Ryan.
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AP Women's Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
