Grace Zumwinkle and Sophia Kunin lift Minnesota over Ottawa 2-1

OTTAWA, Ontario — Grace Zumwinkle and Sophia Kunin scored to lead Minnesota past Ottawa 2-1, sweeping swept the home-and-home series on Saturday.

Nicole Hensley stopped 28 shots for Minnesota (5-2-2-2).

Emily Clark scored the lone goal for Ottawa (2-0-4-3), which is mired in a five-game losing streak. Emerance Maschmeyer made 22 saves.

Minnesota captured a 2-1 home victory Wednesday and is 3-0-0 against Ottawa on the season.

Ottawa opened the third period trailing 2-1 but couldn’t tie the score. Minnesota played a solid defensive game and held the home team to just five shots in the frame.

Shortly after a great chance by Kendall Coyne Schofield, Ottawa went down ice to tie the game 1-1. Gabbie Hughes saw Amanda Boulier but she seemed to fool Hensley by passing to Clark, who scored at 10:04 of the second.

However, Minnesota regained the lead when Zumwinkle raised the puck over a sprawled Maschmeyer with 18.1 seconds remaining in the period.

Both teams had solid scoring chances in the first but a collision at center ice resulted in the opening goal. It permitted Kunin to grab the loose puck, break in alone and thread a shot between Maschmeyer’s pads late in the period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Maschmeyer made her eighth start Saturday. She’s the league’s only goaltender to appear in every one of her team’s games this season.

UP NEXT

Ottawa heads to Boston on Monday.

Minnesota returns to action Sunday in Montreal.