SAINT PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Grace Zumwinkle scored a pair of shootout goals, Taylor Heise added another and Minnesota rallied from two goals down to beat Montreal 3-2 on Sunday in Professional Women's Hockey League action.
Montreal grabbed the lead just 2:36 into the match on defender Kati Tabin's first goal of the season. Gabrielle David and Maureen Murphy notched assists. Murphy's helper was her ninth of the season.
Murphy gave Montreal a two-goal lead 5:53 in with her fourth goal of the season, scoring off David's second assist.
Minnesota bounced back in the second period, scoring a pair of goals 24 seconds apart to tie the game at 2-2 heading to the final period.
Natalie Buchbinder scored first at 5:40 into the period with assists from Maggie Flaherty and Clair DeGeorge. Lee Stecklein buried the equalizer at 6:04 with assists from Sophie Jaques and Kendall Coyne Schofield. It was the second goal of the season for both players.
Ambrose had the lone shootout goal for Montreal.
“We know they're a good team and we know they're going to push hard and they did — so it was good for us to hang in there and stick with it, " said Minnesota head coach Ken Klee.
"I think it was kind of a pivotal thing for us because it solidified that we're going to be a tough team to contend with because we have multiple weapons and multiple players that contribute every game.”
Minnesota goalie Nicole Hensley made 21 saves on 23 shots. Montreal's Elaine Chuli turned away 33 of 35 shots.
Minnesota (8-4-4-3) trails first-place Toronto by a point, while Montreal (7-5-3-4) is in third — five points off the pace.
The two teams have split four matches this season. Montreal has dropped two of three on the road in the series.
The Associated Press
