PWHL Minnesota looks to tie and stop slide in Game 2 in Toronto

The first playoff game in franchise history is over, but PWHL Minnesota is still looking for its first playoff goal. And above all, his first victory since March 24.

Minnesota continues its best-of-five-round playoff series in Toronto on Friday night. Host and top-seeded Toronto won Game 1 4-0 Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum, with Kristen Campbell stopping all 26 shots she faced for the shutout.

It was Minnesota’s sixth straight loss, following a five-game losing streak to end the regular season after returning from a three-week break for the world championships. Minnesota only advanced to the playoffs because Toronto beat Ottawa on the final day of the season on Sunday.

Minnesota players arrived in Toronto Monday morning, but the team’s equipment didn’t arrive until 11 p.m. That irked coach Ken Klee when he met with reporters Wednesday morning, but after the game he didn’t blame the loss on travel issues.

“To be honest with you, we played a good game,” Klee said in his post-match press conference. “We made some mental errors, individual errors, and they capitalized. If you look at the game as a whole, we went down and we chased. That’s the hardest part. They capitalized on their chances .It had nothing to do with the trip for us.

“We haven’t given up rushing goals, I don’t think, all year, and I think we scored three or four tonight. It could have been all four. Again, it’s is something we can fix and we certainly will.”

Game 3 of the series will take place Monday evening at the Xcel Energy Center. If necessary, a fourth game would take place on Wednesday at the X, with the series returning to Toronto for a decisive fifth game on May 17.