Minnesota
Maggie Flaherty's first goal propels PWHL Minnesota to 2-1 win over Ottawa
PWHL Minnesota defender Maggie Flaherty’s first goal this season early in the third period stood as the winner in a 2-1 victory over PWHL Ottawa on Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center.
Her deflection of captain Kendall Coyne Schofield’s shot with 3:35 gone in the third period finished a comeback after the teams swapped goals in the first and second periods.
Former Minnesota Whitecaps defender Amanda Boulier scored for Ottawa in the game’s opening six minutes, and Abby Boreen countered for Minnesota for a 1-1 tie with 2:35 gone in the second period.
Boreen also assisted on Flaherty’s winning third-period goal.
The attendance was announced at 6,276 on a snowy, midweek winter’s night.
PWHL Minnesota played without star forward Taylor Heise, the league’s No. 1 overall pick in the draft in September. She sustained what team officials called an upper-body injury and was seen with her arm in a sling after the game.
PWHL standings
On Tuesday, PHWL Minnesota General Manager Natalie Darwitz lamented the officiating in the inaugural season’s first six weeks.
“Given this high level of hockey — with international hockey and the PWHL — she’s just taking a beating with these open-ice hits they’re allowing. It doesn’t bode well for the skilled players who carry the puck,” Darwitz said. “Knowing Taylor, she’s super human. She’ll probably be back sooner than what her prognosis is.”
Minnesota coach Ken Klee suggested Heise might miss Wednesday’s home game and Saturday’s rematch at Ottawa.
“She’s a little nicked up,” Klee said. “But then again, this is pro sports. There are a lot of games. You add those rivalry games in there and things happen. I hope she won’t be out too long, but it’s probably this week for sure.”
Newly acquired defender Sophie Jaques made her Minnesota debut, starting alongside co-captain Lee Stecklein after a three-player trade with Boston — the first trade in league history — on Sunday.
Jaques didn’t score a goal or record an assist in her seven games with Boston, but she needed just more than a period to help her new team score.
Jaques’ big slap shot from just inside the blue line went wide left just a half minute after Ottawa’s Zoe Boyd went off for cross-checking from behind. Veteran Kelly Pannek shoveled a backhander toward the goal that goalkeeper Emerance Maschmeyer blocked, but Boreen reached and swatted a righthanded shot into the net for her second goal this season.
Darwitz traded for Jaques seeking to add an offensive dimension to her team’s defenders and decided Jaques — whom Darwitz watched “dominate” the Gophers for two seasons while Darwitz was an assistant coach — was the right piece.
So she traded Finnish forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook in exchange for her.
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Jaques won the prestigious Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for being deemed the best player in Division I women’s hockey during the 2022-23 season.
Boulier scored the game’s first goal with just 5:29 gone in the game.
She did so by flicking a shot from along the boards beyond the top of the right circle. It skipped past Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney, who made her fourth start in 10 Minnesota games this season. It was her first start since a 3-2 overtime win Jan. 27 at Boston.
Boulier, 30, played four seasons with the Premier Hockey Federation’s Minnesota Whitecaps, in two different stints from 2018-21 and again 2022-23. She won her first of two Isobel Cups in 2019 with Minnesota and again with the Boston Pride in 2021-22. She attended St. Lawrence University and was raised in Watertown, Conn.
Minnesota
Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.
Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.
The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.
The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.
The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.
The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.
Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.
Minnesota
Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters
A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.
The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.
In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.
Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”
The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.
All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”
Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.
This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.
The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”
Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.
Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.
Minnesota
Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator
A Hubbard County man was arrested and charged after threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator on Facebook.
Court documents filed on Wednesday state the Minnesota State Patrol were investigating a threat posted by John Tobias saying that he would “kill every one of you treasonous [expletive] immediately” if he did not get money back that he claims he lost during the 2020 COVID shutdown.
Court documents go on to say that Tobias then called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asking for something to be done about “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19.
The Minnesota State Patrol contacted Hubbard County deputies regarding Tobias. Court documents state Hubbard County investigators were already familiar with Tobais after speaking with him regarding similar threats he made in Jan.
The charging documents state that investigators searched Tobias’ residence on Tuesday and found an arsenal of guns and 45 boxes of ammunition.
Tobias was taken into custody. During an interview with law enforcement, Tobias admitted to making the threat on Facebook. He also told investigators that “he did not have any intention of killing anyone, but admitted he was trying to get people’s attention,” according to court records.
In late 2025, Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol, who oversees Capitol security, told a panel of lawmakers that threats to lawmakers had doubled between 2024 and 2025.
Tobias made his first court appearance Wednesday morning and is expected back in court early next month.
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