PWHL Minnesota eliminates Toronto to advance to Walter Cup Final

PWHL Minnesota scored three goals in the third period to earn a 4-1 victory over Toronto, securing a 3-2 series victory and advancing to the PWHL Walter Cup Final to face Boston.

Minnesota opened the scoring midway through the second period on the power play, when a Sophie Jaques point shot resulted in a Kelly Pannek rebound, whose shot was stopped but ended up on Denisa Krizova’s stick. She buried the puck into the Toronto net, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Toronto responded nearly 40 seconds later when Victoria Bach carried the puck into the Minnesota end, sending a pass to Rebecca Leslie who scored her first of the postseason, tying the game at one.

In the third period, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Taylor Heise, who only scored one goal in her last 16 regular season games and was held scoreless through the first four games of the Minnesota-Toronto series, pencilled her name on the scoresheet.

Her first goal came at the top of the circle while on a power play, firing a wrister with eyes that navigated through traffic and squeaked past Toronto netminder Kristen Campbell.

It would end up being the game-winning goal, with Minnesota scoring two empty netters later in the game, one of which was Heise’s second goal and the other was Sophia Kunin.

With the win, Minnesota advances to the Walter Cup Final, where they’ll face Boston, who eliminated Montreal last Tuesday, sweeping the No. 2 ranked club.

Game 1 of the PWHL Finals takes place Sunday, May 19 when Boston hosts Minnesota at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.