PWHL finals: Minnesota's attention to defensive details making big difference

The uptick in offensive production from center Taylor Heise has been clearly evident. Minnesota registered its third shutout in its past five playoff games on Tuesday to even its best-of-five PWHL finals series with Boston at 1-1. “Our entire team has refocused on what is the strength of our team, which is not giving up a ton of goals,” Minnesota center Kelly Pannek said. Pannek, Heise, Grace Zumwinkle and Kendall Coyne Schofield — among others — have been conspicuous in making strong plays on the backcheck in recent games to shut down a potential scoring threat.