OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — From start to finish, Emerance Maschmeyer was Ottawa’s best player making 35 saves in a 4-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday night.
Captain Brianne Jenner registered a hat trick, while Ashton Bell scored the other goal for Ottawa (8-0-6-6).
Nicole Hensley made 18 saves for Minnesota (8-4-3-6), which had won all four previous games against Ottawa.
The win allowed Ottawa to take a two-point lead over Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot making Wednesday’s matchup between the two that much more critical.
Minnesota’s best chance to get back in the game came early in the third when they had a 24-second, two-player advantage, but were unable to capitalize on it or the ensuing power play.
Jenner made it rain hats scoring her third at 15:39 of the third period.
A solid second period allowed Ottawa to extend its lead to 3-0.
Jenner scored her second of the game at 4:07. Minnesota’s Maggie Flaherty fell behind the net allowing Emily Clark to jump on the puck and feed Jenner out front.
Midway through the period Ottawa broke in on a 2-on-1 with Tereza Vanisova making a great pass under Flaherty’s stick to Bell who scored into the open side.
Despite being outplayed for much of the period Ottawa came out of the first with a 1-0 lead.
Maschmeyer made a number of big saves to bail out her teammates who struggled to keep up with Minnesota. Ottawa didn’t register its first shot until 10:07.
The home team caught a break when Hensley went to play the puck behind the net and it took a weird bounce off the boards between her feet bouncing out front leaving a wide-open net for Jenner to score her sixth of the season at 17:14.
Seventeen players from the two teams represented their countries at the recent 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Utica, New York.
UP NEXT
Minnesota: Hosts Boston on April 27.
Ottawa: Hosts Boston on Wednesday.
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