ST. PAUL — Two players had a pair of goals, the power play clicked and for the second consecutive game, the Minnesota Frost put up a strong offensive showing in a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Charge on Dec. 19 at Xcel Energy Center. The Frost (3-0-1-0) remain atop the six-team PWHL standings with their third victory in a row following an overtime loss in the season opener.
The Frost have 10 points and a .833 winning percentage through four games this season. Here are five rules from the team’s first home victory – in its second opportunity – of the season:
The Minnesota Frost players celebrate one of their five goals scored against Ottawa on Dec. 19 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)
1. Kelly Pannek scores a pair of goals, just misses the ‘Grace Zumwinkle hat trick.’
Ottawa (1-0-1-3) had a 1-0 lead after scoring about eight minutes into the game. Anna Meixner tipped a Jincy Roese shot while Shiann Darkangelo provided the screen in front of Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney. But about three minutes later, Kelly Pannek tied the game and made sure the Frost never trailed again.
Pannek took the puck behind the Ottawa net, came out front and flicked a backhand shot that fluttered into the net to get the Frost on the board in the game and Pannek into the goal column for the season.
“It found one of the defender’s sticks, and I think ramped up and over,” Pannek said. “I think any time that happens, it’s hard for a goaltender to adjust to it.”
Early in the second period, Pannek doubled the total with a power-play goal. She took a pass from Kendall Coyne Schofield and then skated through neutral ice. She didn’t stop until she popped a laser of a shot past goaltender Gwyneth Philips for the 2-1 lead. Pannek scored four goals all of last season but now has two in the fourth game of 2024-25.
This season, Pannek said she’s trying to put herself in good positions and tried to get better at putting the puck on net.
“I tend to look for a pass first,” Pannek said. “Just trying to get myself in good spots to be a threat at the net.”
Ottawa went with an empty net with about three-and-a-half minutes to play in regulation. A little more than a minute later, Pannek tried to complete the hat trick with a shot the length of the ice, from Minnesota’s goal line. But the puck hit the outside of the post along the ice and slid just wide.
“Yeah, I was going for the Grace Zumwinkle hat trick,” Pannek said. “6-on-5 empty netter.”
Pannek was referring to when Zumwinkle scored all three goals – including an empty-netter – in Minnesota’s opener last season, a 3-0 victory over Montreal. Thursday night, it was Zumwinkle who later sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 1 minute, 41 seconds left in regulation.
“She said she was going to wait for me, but I was not coming anywhere close to catching up with her,” Pannek said. “I’m glad she finished that one.”
Claire Thompson winds up for a shot. She scored a goal and had three assists in the game against Ottawa. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)
2. Claire Thompson scores her first PWHL goal and recorded a 4-point night.
Minnesota’s first-round pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft (third overall), defender Claire Thompson, not only scored her first PWHL goal Thursday, but she factored into four of the five Frost tallies. Thompson assisted on Pannek’s first goal and Zumwinkle’s second-period goal before scoring with about five minutes to play in regulation. Taylor Heise fed Thompson the puck off the rush, and Thompson fired a shot from the slot.
She credited the great players around her for the successful night.
“People are making good plays with the puck,” Thompson said. “So, anytime you can look to transition the puck to other people, and there’s good people on the team, good things happen.
“I think we had a lot of great net-front presence on a lot of our goals, and that’s a point of emphasis for our team.”
Thompson also made the feed up to Zumwinkle on the empty-net tally.
3. Minnesota’s power play strikes twice, marking the first time the franchise has scored multiple power-play goals in a regular-season game.
Part of the offense for the Frost – which outshot the Charge 40-24 – was a power play that went 2-for-3. It’s the first time the Frost have scored multiple power-play goals during a regular-season game. They also went 2-for-3 in Game 5 of the playoff series against Toronto, in a 4-1 victory.
Minnesota’s special teams struggled last season, going 5-for-61 (8.2%) in the regular season. It also went 2-for-26 (7.7%) in 10 playoff games, but all was seemingly forgiven when they hoisted the Walter Cup.
Through the first three games, the Frost were 1-for-7 on the power play, increasing those numbers to 3-for-10 (30%) by the end of Thursday’s game. Coach Ken Klee credited assistant coach Chris “Critter” Johnson for taking ownership of the power play and helping it to find some early success.
“Critter’s doing a good job working with them, talking to them, where they’re going to be on the ice, what situations they can be in,” Klee said. “But also, make hockey plays. He’s a big believer.”
Maddie Rooney makes the save of the game, reaching her right pad out to stop a shot from Natalie Snodgrass that would have tied the game 3-3 in the third period. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)
4. Despite being outshot by a significant margin all night, Ottawa nearly tied the game 3-3 in the third period.
The Charge kept charging in the third period after being down 3-1 at the second intermission. At 5:28 of the third period, Tereza Vanišová got in alone and went forehand-to-backhand to slip a shot past Rooney and make it a one-goal game.
About 30 seconds later, Ottawa nearly tied it. Natalie Snodgrass, an Eastview grad, also was one-on-one with Rooney. But the goaltender reached her right pad out just enough to make the sprawling save. So instead of a tie game, the Frost maintained the lead and outscored Ottawa 2-0 the rest of the game.
“Massive save by a really good goalie,” said Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod. “So good on her. She fought to get her toe on it and managed to do so.
“I don’t think I was worried that that was going to sway us to the direction that it did. You would’ve thought, ‘well man, we just about scored two goals in a minute, let’s keep going here.’ Just didn’t have the pushback that we needed. We just didn’t have our game.”
5. Sophie Jaques was injured after an illegal hit.
About halfway through the third period on a Frost penalty kill, Sophie Jaques took a hip check behind the Minnesota net from Maple Grove native Mannon McMahon. Jaques went down to the ice and appeared to be in pain. She was helped off the ice by the training staff.
Officials reviewed the play for a major penalty but called a minor penalty for illegal body checking.
Klee did not have an update on her condition postgame, other than to say she’d been taken to the hospital.
“So, we’ll see how she’s doing,” Klee said. “She’ll be obviously evaluated tonight and tomorrow. And we’ll see where she’s at.”
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