LOWELL, Mass. – Nicole Hensley of PWHL Minnesota earned her first career PWHL Playoff shutout in Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over PWHL Boston, stopping all 20 shots faced.
The ice was tilted in PWHL Minnesota’s favor, and they had all the offense in this one. Michela Cava would open the scoring for Minnesota in the first. Just under two minutes later, Sophie Jaques would get her first of the night, scoring against her former team. Minnesota would go into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The second period would see no scoring despite two power-play opportunities for Boston. At 2:20 of the second, Boston thought they had life on a Jess Healey goal. After a lengthy review, the ruling was that the whistle was blown before the puck entered the net, and the goal would come off the board.
Well into the third period, Minnesota held a 2-0 lead. With the Boston goalie pulled, Sophie Jaques would get her second of the night, an empty netter to seal the win for Minnesota. This was Jaques’ second two-goal game of the season.
The three stars of the night: 1. Sophie Jaques 2. Nicole Hensley 3. Kaleigh Fratkin
With this win, PWHL Minnesota handed Boston their first loss in six games. This was also Boston’s first home loss in six games. This series will shift to Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, with the series tied at one. The puck drops on game three Friday at 7 pm.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Hannah Carpenter, who was there to capture the action.
