With four wins in its first five games, Minnesota was looking very much like the class of the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League and has been at or near the top of the standings for most of the season.

Now, with two games remaining in the regular season, Minnesota is playing for its playoff life.

Needing one point to clinch a spot in the postseason, Minnesota was stunned by a late surge from Boston on Saturday, losing 2-1 before an announced crowd of 9,977 at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota has lost three straight.

Former Gophers standout Hannah Brandt scored the game-winner for Boston with less than three seconds to play, keeping her team’s playoff hopes alive.

Montreal beat Ottawa on Saturday to move into first place with 41 points, three points ahead of Toronto. Minnesota remains in third place with 35 points, three points ahead of Ottawa and Boston.

Minnesota, which finishes the regular season with two games on the road — Wednesday at Toronto and Saturday at New York — still needs one point to secure a playoff spot.

“Gut-wrenching,” was the way Minnesota coach Ken Klee described Saturday’s outcome.

Despite outshooting Boston 24-12 through two periods, Minnesota held only a 1-0 lead going into the final 20 minutes.

Boston then completely outplayed Minnesota in the third. Firing 18 shots at Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley, Boston pulled even with a power-play goal at 1:42 of the period before Brandt’s heroics in the final seconds.

“We’re just finding ways to lose hockey games right now,” Klee said, “which is unfortunate because we played well. We had lots of chances to get the lead, extend it. We were the better team for two periods and we found a way to lose it in the final two seconds.”

Understandably, Hensley said the Minnesota locker room was “pretty quiet” after the game. “You get that close to getting the point you need and you don’t get it, it’s pretty frustrating,” she said. “We need some people in that locker room to step up, including myself.”

Minnesota had plenty of quality scoring chances through the first two periods, but a problem that has plagued it for much of the season emerged once again: the inability to finish.

Minnesota outshot Boston 24-12 over the first two periods, but Kelly Pannek’s goal at 18:50 of the second was its only score.

“It’s easier to say than to do,” Klee said. “They’re trying. They’re getting great looks and they want to score goals.”

Offered Hensley: “It’s just about finishing and doing the right things at the right times.”

Boston completed the comeback by forcing the issue in the third. Minnesota responded by playing most of the period on its heels.

“I think our mindset changed,” Hensley said. “We went from pushing and pushing and trying to get a goal to, ‘OK, we have it, let’s just hold it.’ We took a couple not-so-good penalties and that put us on our heels a little bit.

“It gave them a little more momentum. Those things are going to cost you in the playoffs and at the end of the season here. It’s about bearing down without gripping your stick too tight.”

Brandt’s game-winner was the result of excellent execution by Boston and poor defense by Minnesota. After a Minnesota dump-in, a stretch pass to Hilary Knight gave Boston the puck at the Minnesota blue line.

Knight then made a quick pass to a streaking Brandt in the middle of the ice, and Brandt skated in alone on Hensley.

“There’s no reason for one pass to beat three of our forwards,” Klee said. “and then (Knight) made a good play. And then Hannah was obviously flying. But we can’t have one pass beat us, and certainly get a breakaway out of it.”

It left Minnesota in a less-than-comfortable position with two games to play but with a chance of its own to come through in the clutch.

“We have a lot of leadership that has played in World Championship gold-medal games, Olympic gold-medal games, national championship games in college,” Hensley said. “We have a lot of players who have played in a lot of important games and come out on top.

“People know how to do that. Again, it’s believing in our group and sticking with what has made us good over the course of the year.”

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In an alternate universe, Khyree Jackson might be working as a manager at the local grocery store, or maybe playing video games professionally as a member of the NBA 2K League.

Seriously. Both options were on the table when he stepped away from football as a teenager.

Eventually, Jackson returned to the game he loved, parlaying his undying determination into an opportunity to play at the highest level  The cornerback was officially rewarded for his hard work on Saturday when the Vikings selected him with the No. 108 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

He wouldn’t change his journey for the world.

“I feel like it taught me a lot of perseverance,” Jackson said. “It helped turn me into the man that I am today.”

After signing to play at Arizona Western College, Jackson dropped out before playing a single snap. He secretly returned to his hometown of Upper Marlboro, Md., picked up a job behind the deli counter at the nearby Harris Teeter, and played NBA 2K to pass the time. He told his friends he was still in school.

“Nobody knew,” Jackson said. “It was kind of eating away at me.”

He finally came clean to his friends and realized the embarrassment he was feeling was a big enough reason to give football another shot. Though he still proudly flaunts the time he was named Employee of the Month at Harris Teeter, and he claims he got so good at NBA 2K that he legitimately could have gone pro, Jackson couldn’t escape the gravitational pull football still had on his life.

It started with Jackson attending Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, where he initially played wide receiver. After earning the trust of the coaching staff, Jackson asked if he could switch to cornerback. He felt that position change would put him on the best path to advance his career.

“I felt like at cornerback at least I can kind of control my own destiny,” Jackson said. “That’s why I ended up switching.”

After transferring to East Mississippi Community College as a top recruit, Jackson arrived on campus only to have things canceled due to COVID. He wound up at Alabama the following year playing under legendary head coach Nick Saban before transferring once more, to Oregon.

That’s where everything started to click for Jackson. He credited head coach Dan Lanning for helping him thrive at Oregon. He was able to play with a ton of freedom while starting 12 games and finished with 34 tackles, two sacks, three interceptions and seven pass break ups on his way to being named First Team All-Pac 12.

That performance earned Jackson an invite to the Senior Bowl, where he got to meet with the Vikings. He had a message for defensive coordinator Brian Flores, defensive backs coach Daronte Jones and anybody else who would listen.

“I told them I was the best cornerback in the draft and I thought they were probably going to be getting me for cheaper because of some of the politics that go into it,” Jackson said. “Just being honest. I felt confident in my ability. The numbers spoke for themselves.”

Now he’s on an NFL roster, and bringing that same level of confidence with him.

“I watch a lot of the names that called before me recently in this draft.” Jackson said. “Maybe it shouldn’t have went like that.”

As much as he’s looking forward to getting the last laugh after so many teams passed on him, Jackson was feeling gratitude more than anything else after getting the call from the Vikings.

“Honestly, I wasn’t even at home,” Jackson said with a laugh. “I was at the mall.”

Either way, it was fitting that Jackson was back in his hometown for the occasion. He returned there when he almost gave up football for good. It’s only right that he was also there when his childhood dream came true.

“I missed the first call, and then my phone rang again and I picked it up and it was the Vikings,” Jackson said. “I told the lady in the store, I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got go.’ ”

He had some celebrating to do.

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PHOENIX — After the Timberwolves’ Game 3 victory over the Suns on Friday, Anthony Edwards was asked if the Wolves had broken Phoenix’s spirit.

Answer: “Nope.”

Minnesota leads the best-of-seven series 3-0 heading into Sunday’s Game 4, but it’s not over. Not officially.

“We don’t think we broke their spirit until we win Game 4. We’ve gotta win Game 4 and then we can say we broke their spirit,” Edwards said. “You never know, man, a lot of crazy things happen.”

Tip off for Game 4 is set for 8:30 p.m. CDT Sunday in Phoenix.

“We can’t think that they’re going to give us the game because they’re down 3-0. They want to win a game. They don’t want to go out and get swept,” Edwards added. “We’ve got to come out and be ready to compete at a high level, even more than we did in the first three games. We’re gonna be ready.”

Entering Saturday’s playoff slate, NBA teams were a combined 0-151 in best-of-seven series after going down 0-3. So, the odds are certainly stacked heavily in Minnesota’s favor, particularly considering how convincing all three of the Wolves’ wins in this series have been.

Still, as Edwards noted, anything can happen.

“If you wanna pick any team to make a comeback, it would have to be us,” Phoenix guard Eric Gordon told reporters Saturday. “With the firepower we have, when chemistry is going right, then we’re a pretty deadly team.”

Certainly, chemistry has been going wrong for Phoenix thus far. But switches can flip. Things can turn. One good performance can lead to another. Players are motivated to avoid getting swept. The broom can serve as the ultimate sign of embarrassment for a professional athlete.

“I’ve never been swept a day in my life,” Suns guard Brad Beal said. “So, I’ll be (darned) if that happens.”

Edwards wouldn’t allow it a year ago for the Wolves. With his team trailing Denver 3-0 in the first round, the all-star guard poured in 34 points in an overtime victory in Game 4.

“I take pride. I didn’t want to say I got swept,” Edwards said after that game. “I don’t ever want to say I got swept in my career.”

Then, in Game 5 in Denver, Minnesota pushed the Nuggets to the end. Edwards missed a shot at the horn that would have sent the game to overtime. Pride matters. If Phoenix displays some Sunday, the Suns will be a tough out.

“We’ve got to stay resilient,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “I think in all three games, we’ve been hit with adversity at different points, and that’s something that we’re going to have to be challenged with in Game 4. It’s not easy in closeout games at all, especially on the road. So, we’re going to have to be double ready to go. We have to be to all the loose balls. We have to get all the 50-50 chances and just be the team that’s more determined.”

Because while Minnesota has four chances to win one game, taking care of business as soon as possible would be advantageous for the Wolves. Minnesota had a week off between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the first round and used that time to effectively flip the script on Phoenix after the Suns swept the Wolves in the regular season.

Coming out of that break, Minnesota is playing some of its best basketball of the campaign.

“We really benefited from that week off, for sure,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.

Denver had a chance to complete a sweep of the Lakers on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Should Minnesota finish its job Sunday in Phoenix, the Wolves will have another week off before likely starting their Western Conference semifinal series next weekend. That matters.

“My first times in the playoffs, I wasn’t able to prepare like that because we was in the play-in game,” Edwards said. “For me, I’ll say it was super important (to have that week off). I got in the best shape of my life that week. I was able to really understand, like, a playoff game (while) playing and learn how to execute everything and seeing how everything goes. It was definitely fun for me. That was the best thing ever, being able to prepare for a week. The coaching staff did a phenomenal job man, I will say that.”

Earning similar time off ahead of the next round could prove equally as advantageous.

INJURY UPDATE

Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said Suns guard Grayson Allen didn’t do much again in Saturday’s practice. Allen missed Game 3 on Friday after re-injuring his sprained ankle in the third quarter of Game 2. Allen is questionable for Sunday’s bout.

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