Toronto chooses to play Minnesota in PWHL semifinal

Toronto's top-seeded PWHL squad chose to face the No. 4-ranked Minnesota side in the semifinal round and opening stage of the inaugural postseason, the first-place team announced Monday.

The Toronto club topped the standings at 13-4-0-7 (W-OTW-OTL-L), while Minnesota wrapped up the regular season at 8-4-3-9.

Toronto will host Game 1 of the best-of-five series Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Second-ranked Montreal will battle third-seeded Boston in the other semifinal matchup, which begins Thursday night at Place Bell in Laval. Montreal went 10-3-5-6 over the 24-game slate, while Boston posted an identical record to its lower-seeded counterpart at 8-4-3-9.

The PWHL added an incentive in its first campaign allowing the team that finishes in first place to pick its playoff opponent. Toronto had some fun with the reveal Monday night.

Toronto went 3-1 against Minnesota during the regular season, reeling off three wins after losing their first meeting Jan. 10.