In a number of different ways, that was a new-look Team Minnesota that beat Team Ottawa 2-1 on Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The home team was without No. 1 center Taylor Heise, who sustained an upper-body injury on Sunday in Team USA’s loss to Team Canada in the final game of the Rivalry Series. Heise is listed as day-to-day, but she is not expected to play in Team Minnesota’s two games this weekend.

Winger Abby Boreen, who wasn’t on the active roster when the season began, continued to make the most of her opportunity by scoring Team Minnesota’s first goal.

Recently acquired defenseman Sophie Jaques made her debut for Team Minnesota. The 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award, who played at Ohio State, came to Minnesota in a trade that sent Abby Cook and Susanna Tapani to Boston.

So when defenseman Maggie Flaherty, a Lakeville native, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal early in the third period, there were smiles all around — none bigger than Flaherty’s.

“To score your first professional, goal, especially in your home rink surrounded by family and friends, you can’t write it up much better than that,” she said.

Boreen began the season on Team Minnesota’s reserve list but was signed to a 10-day contract on Jan. 24. The former Gophers star immediately made an impact, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in a 2-1 over New York on Jan. 28.

Boreen’s status is complicated by the fact that she is a full-time pharmacy student at the U. She is eligible to sign one more 10-day contract this season, which is all but a formality at this point.

“She brings that element of physicalness to our forward group,” Minnesota coach Ken Klee said. “We’re not a very physical group, which is something we were missing without her. When she came in she provided that physical-type play.”

Boreen acknowledged that her schedule is a bit daunting.

“Last year at the U was my fifth year, which was my first year of pharmacy school. So I kind of learned how to balance both,” she said. “Just before the game (Wednesday) I was scrambling to get here.

“I think playing my fifth year and knowing what it is like has helped me.”

As for Jacques, she teamed with Lee Stecklein on Team Minnesota’s first blue line tandem, and she impressed her new coach with her overall play.

“She was really good, and she’s only going to get better,” Klee said. “She’s really physical, really strong, and that really impressed me.”

Klee credited general manager Natalie Darwitz with recognizing a need and finding a way to address it.

“We didn’t really have an offensive-style defenseman,’ Klee said. “They’re tough to come by. “(Darwitz) had some history with her coaching against her in college, so she knew who she was.”

Ottawa scored the only goal of the first period at 5:29, and it came on an innocent-looking shot from the right point that eluded Team Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney.

“It was a bit of floater that was dipping,” Klee said. “I think it is one (Rooney) would like to have back.”

Rooney agreed.

“I was there,” she said. “I don’t know how it went in.”

Boreen’s goal at 2:35 of the second period came on a power play. She was just off the crease to bury a rebound after Jacques’ slap shot from the point caromed off the back boards.

With Team Minnesota clinging to the one-goal lead, Ottawa pulled goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer with 1 minute, 34 seconds to play and spent the entire time in the Minnesota zone.

“That was a little chaotic,” Rooney said, “but we had great people out there grinding it out. Ideally, you don’t want to be in your zone the last two minutes, but it was great team effort there at the end.”