Grace Zumwinkle scored the very first hat-trick in the Professional Women’s Hockey League and Maddie Rooney made the nothing as Minnesota won their home opener, blanking Montreal 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 13,316 at Xcel Energy. The previous record, 8,318 was set Tuesday at the sold-out Arena at TD Place in Ottawa to see Montreal make a 3-2 win in overtime on Tuesday. Minnesota won at Boston by the exact same rating on Wednesday. The PWHL, which introduced its inaugural season on New Year’s Day, stated Saturday’s turnout set a participation record for expert females’s ice hockey. “Living in the State of Hockey, I understood our fans would appear for us, however today they have actually taken it to an entire brand-new level,” Minnesota basic supervisor and previous United States nationwide group gamer Natalie Darwitz stated. “I’ve delighted in various fantastic hockey experiences in Minnesota over my profession, and experiencing today and the record crowd was psychological and ranks near the top of the list.” Zumwinkle, who scored an objective in the season opener in Boston, is from Excelsior, Minnesota, and played her college hockey at the University of Minnesota. Rooney, from Duluth, played collegiately at the University of Minnesota-Duluth before winning a gold medal in objective for the United States at the 2018 Olympic Games. A record crowd of 13,316 at Xcel Energy Center ended up for Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Montreal on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Matt Krohn/USA Today SportsMontreal pressed and set the speed for the video game early and had 3 power plays without devoting a charge through the very first 2 durations, outshooting Minnesota 21-12, however tracked 1-0 to begin the 3rd duration. Zumwinkle backhanded a shot past Ann-Renée Desbiens with 2:39 left in the very first duration, beating the 2022 gold medalist for Canada to her stick side. After a scoreless 2nd duration Zumwinkle skated to the top of the slot and soared a shot past Desbien at the 1:47 mark of the 3rd and included an empty net objective at 17:13 of the duration. Montreal did not get a shot on objective through the very first 11 minutes of the 3rd duration. Desbiens ended up with 19 saves money on 21 shots. Rooney stopped all 24 Montreal shots on objective. Montreal dips into New York and Minnesota plays host to Toronto on Wednesday.
PWHL video game in Minnesota sets presence record with 13,316 fans
