The PWHL game in Minnesota sets an attendance record with 13,316 fans

Grace Zumwinkle scored the first hat trick in the Professional Women's Hockey League and Maddie Rooney earned the shutout as Minnesota won their home opener, beating Montreal 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 13,316 at the Xcel Energy Center.

The previous record, 8,318, was set Tuesday in the sold-out Arena at TD Place in Ottawa, where Montreal earned a 3-2 victory in overtime on Tuesday. Minnesota beat Boston on Wednesday by the same score.

The PWHL, which launched its inaugural season on New Year's Day, said Saturday's attendance set an attendance record for professional women's ice hockey.

“Living in the Hockey State, I knew our fans would show up for us, but today they took it to a whole new level,” said Minnesota general manager and former U.S. National Team player Natalie Darwitz. “I have had countless great hockey experiences in Minnesota throughout my career, and experiencing today and the record crowd was emotional and tops the list.”

Zumwinkle, who scored a goal in the season opener in Boston, is from Excelsior, Minnesota, and played her collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota. Rooney, from Duluth, played collegiately at the University of Minnesota-Duluth before winning a gold medal in goal for the United States at the 2018 Olympics.

Montreal set the pace for the match early and had three power plays without committing a penalty during the first two periods, outscoring Minnesota 21-12 but trailing 1-0 to start the third period.

Zumwinkle fired a backhand past Ann-Renée Desbiens with 2:39 left in the first period, beating the 2022 gold medalist for Canada with her stick side. After a scoreless second period, Zumwinkle skated to the top of the slot and fired a shot past Desbien at 1:47 of the third and added an empty net goal at 17:13 of the period.

Montreal didn't have a shot on goal for the first 11 minutes of the third period. Desbiens finished with 19 saves on 21 shots. Rooney stopped all 24 of Montreal's shots on goal.

Montreal plays New York on Wednesday and Minnesota hosts Toronto on Wednesday.