Womens Hockey

News: BOSTON VS MINNESOTA PLAYOFF PRIMER

News: BOSTON VS MINNESOTA PLAYOFF PRIMER


First place Pride host fourth place Whitecaps in best-of-three semifinal series

The 2023 Isobel Cup Playoffs begin today in Boston, home of the regular season winners and back-to-back champion Pride who welcome the Minnesota Whitecaps.

SCHEDULE

Game 1 – Thursday March 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET
ESPN+ / TSN+ with Josh Eastern and Alexis Pearson, Paige Capistran rinkside,
NESN+ with Joe Malfa and Madison Packer

Game 2 – Saturday March 18 at 6:00 p.m. ET
ESPN+ / TSN+ with Josh Eastern and Alexis Pearson, Jackie Daly rinkside,
NESN+ with Donny Baarns and Madison Packer

Game 3 – Sunday March 19 at 6:00 p.m. ET (if necessary)
ESPN+ / TSN+ with Joe Malfa and Alexis Pearson, Paige Capistran rinkside,
NESN+ with Donny Baarns and Madison Packer

All games to be played at The Bentley Arena at Bentley University. Click here to purchase tickets.

SYNOPSIS

This marks the second official playoff meeting between the teams following the 2021 championship, however both clubs were finalists in 2020 but never competed due to the pandemic. Boston enters the series winning three of their last four games including a weekend sweep over Minnesota at Warrior Ice Arena Mar. 3-4 that secured a 4-0 season series victory. The Pride outscored the Whitecaps 17-9 in head-to-head action which included a pair of 5-4 decisions in overtime and in a shootout. Minnesota completed their season schedule with eight-straight losses which counts as the worst stretch in franchise history and included three shutouts against. The series features the PHF’s top two goaltenders in Boston’s Corinne Schroeder who burst onto the scene and set single season records with 19 wins and seven shutouts as a rookie, opposite Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille who is a two-time Goaltender of the Year, all-time wins leader, and continues to show why she’s the backbone of her team. The Pride’s top scoring offense is led by Loren Gabel who tied a single season record with 40 points, and captain Jillian Dempsey who has averaged a point-per-game in her league-leading 14 playoff appearances. Whitecaps veteran Jonna Albers and newcomer Natalie Snodgrass tied for the team lead with 20 points each, with the latter among the league’s top scoring class of 2022 collegiate graduates. A pair of 2018 Olympic gold medalists anchor both blue lines with Minnesota’s shot leader Sidney Morin staring across from Kali Flanagan who led the 2022 playoffs in scoring. This is the first time the playoffs will feature a best-of-three series since the…

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