Minnesota Frost’s Britta Curl-Salemme, Game 2 hero in the PWHL Finals, embraces the boos

The NHL has had its share of villains — Dave “The Hammer” Schultz to name just one — in its storied 107 years.

Could Frost rookie center Britta Curl-Salemme be a version of the two-year-old PWHL’s own?

Big, loud crowds in Ottawa booed her whenever she touched the puck in the first two games of the PWHL Finals.

She responded in Game 2 Thursday by scoring a sudden tying goal with 16 seconds left, then she scored again, winning the game 2-1 with 16-plus minutes gone in overtime.

Her goals evened the best-of-five series 1-1 as it heads to Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

“Personally, I’d rather play in a full crowd that’s booing me than an empty one,” Curl-Salemme said. “That type of passion is really cool to see. I can’t control how they may feel towards me.”

She called the fan reaction — a continuation from the regular season in Ottawa — “all in good fun, I think. I think they enjoy that passion and putting it toward something. It’s fun to go there. It’s fun to get a win, too.”

North Dakota-raised, Curl-Salemme won an NCAA championship at Wisconsin before the Frost selected her in the second round of last summer’s PWHL draft.

She was — and is — a polarizing player because of her physical play and what coach Ken Klee calls “tremendous skills” she displayed in scoring those two timely goals in Game 2.

Curl-Salemme was suspended for one game three separate times this season for what the league’s player-safety committee determined were illegal hits to the head. One of those suspensions was Game 2 in a first-round playoff series with Toronto.

She also apologized publicly last summer for “hurt” caused by social media activity she had liked, and she was booed by some when she was selected at the PWHL draft in St. Paul.

“I can’t really speak to the reason for it,” she said about such fan reaction on or off the ice. “I’m sure it’s as annoying as hell being an opponent or an opposing fan. The style I play, I try to embrace that to a certain point. I want to be a nuisance. I want to make it hard to play against me. I’m sure [style of play] that’s part of it. That is not why I do it.”

Klee praised Curl-Salemme’s “great presence” getting position in front of the opposing net. That’s how she scored her first goal Thursday, batting in a rebound on a power play, with goalie Maddie Rooney pulled late.

Her knack for one-time shots is how she scored her second goal, swiping a shot from the slot as she was dragged down.

“She’s an outstanding player, outstanding person, outstanding teammate,” Klee said. “No one is happier for her than our entire team. She had to deal with adversity and stuff. She has been able to rise above. She just goes out and competes hard. We’re lucky in have her.”

Curl-Salemme credits her two brothers and younger sister for creating a competitive family dynamic.

“I don’t know, you can ask my brothers,” she said about her competitiveness. “I never liked to lose or get pushed around. I’ve always been pretty physical, hard-nosed, I like to play with grit. I think that can be an asset to any team I’m on. I think it can create energy for the team.

“Obviously, you have to find the right line with that and stay out of the [penalty] box and hopefully add a little bit of skill in there, too. Not just the physical side of it.”

Curl-Salemme has the three suspensions this season, and her 15 playoff penalty minutes are seven more than anyone else in the league has.

“It has been tough at times,” she said. “I was excited just to play in a league that allows more physicality because it suits me. But it’s also about letting it go and holding you back a little bit. You have to find that fine line, how do I stay in control and do it in a way that’s not going to hurt my team or my opponent because things happen in a physical game.”