Here are five rules from the Frost’s first regulation loss of the season:

1. Saturday included homecomings and Hill-Murray/Wisconsin reunions for some of the Montreal players.

There were no graphics or lengthy video tributes, but the Frost welcomed back two former players during the game’s first TV timeout Saturday with an announcement in the arena. Montreal forwards Abby Boreen and Clair DeGeorge each had a chance to wave to the crowd via the videoboard and receive a nice round of cheers. Both were part of the Walter Cup Champion Minnesota team last season.

Boreen, a Wisconsin native who played with Hill-Murray and the Gophers, was a reserve with Minnesota who contributed four goals and five points in nine regular-season games before needing to enter the PWHL Draft in June; Montreal selected her in the third round (17th overall). Boreen came into the game as Montreal’s leading scorer with two goals and four points this season, also fresh off being named the PWHL Second Star of the Week on Dec. 23.

She said she’s had a fun season with her new team.

“Moving to a whole new city, meeting literally everyone from scratch,” Boreen said. “I’ve had a blast, honestly. So, I’m really happy to be here.”

Well, Boreen had at least one familiar face on her new team. She and defender Mariah Keopple, another Wisconsin native and a Hill-Murray teammate, have known each other for about a decade. Saturday’s game was a homecoming for Keopple, too, who had about 60 family members at the game.

“They were scattered all around the rink,” Keopple said. “It was incredible to do it in front of them and also fellow Wisconsin people on my team.

2. Three players scored their first goals of the season.

Of the five goals in Saturday’s game, three marked the first of the season for each player. Keopple scored her first goal to tie the game 1-1 in the first period when her point shot made it through traffic. Then Victoire center Alexandra Labelle gave her team the lead with 37.8 seconds left in the opening period as she whacked away at her own rebound in front of the net. Labelle had only one goal in 24 games last season with New York.

Early in the second period, Frost rookie Brooke McQuigge (a fourth-round draft pick) tied the game at two for her first professional goal. The Frost crashed the net creating a flurry of chances before the fourth-line winger McQuigge cashed in. Liz Schepers and Claire Butorac assisted on the play.

“I think my line fed off each other’s energy and we just forechecked well there,” McQuigge said. “Each of us had a swing at the puck. So, it could’ve been either one of my linemates’ goals. Just happy to get the first one.

3. Minnesota makes the right call on a challenge for goaltender interference.

About halfway through the second period, Montreal appeared to take a two-goal lead when winger Laura Stacey crashed the net as Keopple took a shot from far out that ended up in the net. The official on the ice signaled a good goal. But the Frost challenged the play as Stacey skated through the crease and appeared to get tangled with goaltender Maddie Rooney.

Following the video review, the officials, in consultation with the PWHL Central Situation Room, reversed the call to keep it a one-goal game. They determined goaltender interference indeed occurred on the play.

Though challenges aren’t ever easy, it was the right call this time around, said Frost coach Ken Klee.

“The replays are kind of slow for us to get on the bench,” Klee said. “I was watching on the jumbotron like everybody else.”

Klee added that he’s instructed his goaltenders to let him know if they were interfered with on a play, which also helps make his calls easier. Kendall Coyne Schofield was on the ice for the play and noted that Rooney spoke up right away about being interfered with on the play.

“I try to have them take a little bit of ownership of it, too,” Klee said. “Because they’re around the net, and they see what’s happening.

Britta Curl-Salemme celebrates scoring her third goal of the season to give the Frost a 1-0 lead in Saturday’s game against Montreal. (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

4. Britta Curl-Salemme, Claire Thompson and Taylor Heise keep adding to their point totals.

The Frost had a slow start, captain Coyne Schofield acknowledged postgame. But they still got on the board first for the fifth time in six games this season. About nine minutes into the game, a bouncing puck found its way into the net for a 1-0 Frost lead. Defender Claire Thompson’s shot bounced in front of the net and off of Britta Curl-Salemme for her third goal of the season.

She’s the eighth player in the league to reach three goals this season. She has four points in six games.

With the primary assist on the goal, Thompson leads the league in assists with seven and points with eight. She’ll carry a four-game point streak into the team’s next game on Jan. 2 against Boston.

Taylor Heise also earned an assist on the play, tying her for second in PWHL scoring with seven points (one goal, six assists). She has a point in five consecutive games

5. The Frost lost for the first time in regulation but remained in first place in the PWHL standings.

The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Frost, but they’re still atop the PWHL standings with 12 points. Montreal has won three in a row and moved into second place with 10 points.

The Frost were the last team to lose a game in regulation. Montreal’s game-winning goal came only a few minutes after McQuigge tied the game in the second period. Veteran forward Marie-Philip Poulin finished off an odd-man rush to score her second goal of the season after a late pass in deep from Stacey.

The post Rink Rule: Victoire vs. Frost appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Who believed PWHL Minnesota would make it to the PWHL finals in the inaugural season?

Everyone in the PWHL Minnesota locker room.

“I think our group never lost faith,” said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. “I think it’s easy to lose faith when things aren’t going well. But I think, the energy in the room, the energy at practice, was never lost based on the results we had toward the end of the season.”

In a complete turn of events, PWHL Minnesota advanced to the league’s championship round with a 4-1 victory over PWHL Toronto in the deciding game five in front of a sold-out crowd at Coca-Cola Coliseum Friday night in Toronto. No. 4 seed Minnesota erased a two-games-to-none series deficit after losing the first two games on the road before rattling off three-straight wins to complete the upset of top-seeded Toronto.

Minnesota blue liner Lee Stecklein recorded two of her three PWHL Playoffs assists in the series-deciding game in Toronto. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“Definitely proud of our group and the way we battled back,” said Minnesota defenseman Lee Stecklein. “Not just in this series but in each game with the ebbs and flows. The group didn’t quit. We knew what we needed to do, and we were committed to sticking to that.”

Minnesota moves on to face No. 3 seed Boston, which swept No. 2 seed Montreal behind three overtime victories. The best-of-five PWHL Finals start at 4 p.m. CT Sunday. While Minnesota has won three in a row, Boston has a five-game winning streak overall. Their momentum started on April 27 when Minnesota native Hannah Brandt scored the game-winning goal with 2.7 seconds left in regulation to keep Boston’s playoff hopes alive.

Friday’s Game 5 victory was Minnesota’s first on the road since March 3, snapping a six-game skid away from St. Paul. They also handed Toronto its first loss on home ice since Jan. 17; Toronto was riding an 11-0 streak at home. Minnesota used a pair of power-play goals to help seal the victory.

Special teams have plagued Minnesota all season. They finished the regular season with an 8.2% power play (5-for-61 in 24 games). Their penalty kill was the worst in the league at 67.2%, allowing opponents to score 20 times on the power play. Nine of those 20 goals allowed on the penalty kill came in those last five games of the regular season; twice they allowed an opponent to go 3-for-4 on the power play.

But in Game 5, and in the series, special teams came through for Minnesota. As often happens in the playoffs, they were the difference when it mattered the most. Denisa Krizova’s power-play goal for the 1-0 lead Friday snapped a 0-for-25 stretch with the advantage for Minnesota, dating back to April 18. Minnesota also scored two power-play goals in a game for the first time this season.

Sometimes, it’s just a bounce that goes your way, which happened on that first goal, said forward Kelly Pannek. She said she joked after the game that the team nearly doubled its power-play goal output from the season in one game.

“We got half as many in one game at the right time,” Pannek said. “I think our groups on the power play are very committed to… playing the right way and doing the right things. Keep trusting that the looks are going to produce.

“When you have that positive energy, I think the special teams were a big point of emphasis for us, after the last five games of the regular season.”

Minnesota’s penalty kill kept Toronto off the board in the series, going a perfect 10-for-10.

Taylor Heise scored a power-play goal and empty-netter to help send PWHL Minnesota to the Finals. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Taylor Heise made it 2-for-2 on the power play for Minnesota, giving her team a 2-1 lead at 8:30 of the third period in Game 5 for her first goal since March 13. She added an empty netter for her sixth goal of the season. The offensive production came one game after Minnesota coach Ken Klee praised Heise for her “best game by far” in the playoffs during Game 4.

Now, the rookie and her teammates will play for a championship.

“I think it’s fun to see that we had the belief in ourselves, and I don’t think anyone else did, especially considering the way we ended [our season] and then getting the reverse sweep,” Heise said.

The road to the Finals
So, how did Minnesota get here? It’s been an up-and-down past two months, for starters.

At the end of March, PWHL Minnesota was riding high and about to finish the month on a five-game winning streak. They spent most of the season in first or second place in the league, though standings were usually tight. Year one as a league, and the parity among the six teams was already evident.

Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz met with the media before that March 24 game at Xcel Energy Center, ahead of the IIHF World Championship Break. She kept her fingers crossed that all her players would come back from the break healthy.

“Because I think what happens that last month of the season is going to be the most crucial time,” Darwitz said.

Crucial, indeed. Unfortunately for Minnesota, the five-game winning streak was replaced with a five-game skid to end the regular season, culminating in the team barely squeezing into the PWHL playoffs after getting help from other teams on the final day of the regular season. Minnesota had five opportunities to gain a point in the standings during those five games, which would have clinched a playoff berth. They failed to do so.

The PWHL is a league filled with one-goal games and outstanding goaltenders. But there are also some amazing skaters on the ice, too. Minnesota built up a trend where scoring goals became a tough task. They were outscored 19-7 during the five-game losing skid in April, which included four road games.

When Minnesota returned from the international break – a break that all PWHL teams dealt with, sending some players to national teams while other players stayed back and practiced – with a 4-3 loss at Montreal on April 18. Minnesota had a one-goal lead before giving up the tying and winning goals in the final three minutes of regulation. Minnesota wouldn’t score three goals in a game until Game 5 in Toronto.

Minnesota followed in April with a 4-0 loss at Ottawa, the 2-1 loss that Klee called “gut-wrenching” against Boston at home, and then a 4-1 loss at Toronto and 5-2 loss at New York. Minnesota was outscored 9-3 in those final two games, including allowing a season-high five goals to the league’s worst team, New York.

“We didn’t end the season the way we wanted to,” said Minnesota forward and PWHL Rookie of the Year finalist, Grace Zumwinkle, after Game 5. “It’s just a huge testament to our team from first line to fourth line and everyone that’s on our roster.

“I think anyone can contribute on any given night.”

Just get in, then win
No matter how it happened, Minnesota reached the playoffs. Per the league rules, the top seed in the playoffs got to choose its opponent, either No. 3 seed Boston or No. 4 seed Minnesota. Toronto chose Minnesota for the best-of-five semifinals.

PWHL Minnesota bounced back from a rough stretch at the end of the regular season to win three consecutive playoff games. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Toronto grabbed the series lead with back-to-back shutouts by 4-0 and 2-0 margins. Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney started all series games except the first, with Nicole Hensley getting that game. Rooney made 92 saves on 94 shots in those four games for a .979 save percentage and only two goals allowed. She also recorded a shutout streak that lasted 173:19 spanning from late in Game 2 to the second period of Game 5.

“I thought Game 2 was the big change for us,” Klee said. “We played the right way, stayed on top of pucks and battled. We had more compete than we’ve had.”

Then, Minnesota returned the favor to Toronto with 2-0 and 1-0 shutout victories at Xcel Energy Center. The second game was a win in double overtime as Minnesota shut out a Toronto team that hadn’t been held off the board since its season opener.

“Obviously, that gives us a lot of confidence,” said Minnesota forward Claire Butorac, who scored the overtime winner with a rebound shot in front on Wednesday. “Coach has been in our ears about just sticking together the whole time.

“And I think we’ve done a really good job of that. Not getting down on each other but just lifting each other up on the ice, off the ice. I think that builds a pretty confident team.”

The post Special Team(s) appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Two minutes, 12 seconds into the second period of Game 3 of the PWHL playoffs, Minnesota found the back of the net.

Maggie Flaherty’s second goal this year was a shot from the top of the circles that found its way through traffic and got Minnesota on the scoreboard for the first time in the best-of-five series. It held up as the game-winner in a 2-0 Minnesota victory as the team fought off elimination from the PWHL semifinals against top-seeded Toronto on Monday night.

The tally broke a team goal drought of 159:51. It hadn’t scored since the regular-season finale in New York on May 4.

“We’ve had great chances, and it was only a matter of time before we broke through,” said forward Liz Schepers, who assisted on both goals for her first multi-point game in the PWHL. “Quick little play low to high, and Maggie made a great shot through a screen.

“I think we could all kind of take a breath there and realize we can do this thing.”

The win for Minnesota, in front of a small, but always energetic, announced crowd of 3,344 at Xcel Energy Center, marks the first playoff win in team history in this inaugural round of playoffs. It also snapped an 0-7 skid for Minnesota this season. Minnesota will return to the X for game four on Wednesday night with a similar message to game three.

“The message was, we need to win one game,” said Minnesota coach Ken Klee. “That’s it.

“We’re certainly pleased with the outcome today.”

Maddie Rooney made 18 saves to help snap a six-game winning streak for Toronto, a team that hadn’t been shut out since the Jan. 1 season opener. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Goaltender Maddie Rooney made her second consecutive start in net for Minnesota, earning the shutout victory with 18 saves. She also kept Toronto off the scoreboard for nearly all of game two, until Jesse Compher scored with 1:25 left in regulation. On Monday, Minnesota fans showed their love for Rooney by chanting her last name throughout the game while waving their white PWHL Playoffs towels.

“The chants, that’s always fun,” said Rooney, who credited her teammates in front of her for their defense. “A lot of blocked shots today. Clearing the rebounds when they were there and really fun atmosphere to play back in our home building.”

Victory snaps lengthy losing streak
It’s been about seven weeks since Minnesota last won a game, earning an exciting shootout victory over Montreal on March 24. It completed a five-game winning streak heading into the International Break. But that momentum was obliterated and turned into a 0-5 stretch to end the regular season, culminating in Minnesota backing into the PWHL playoffs as the No. 4 seed thanks to a little help from an Ottawa loss on the final day of the regular season.

They spent much of the season in first or second place in the six-team league, with not only the playoffs in sight but possibly home-ice advantage, too.

In game three, Minnesota’s third line produced the scoring. Lakeville native Flaherty scored the first goal, with Mound Westonka grad Schepers and Andover alum Claire Butorac assisting. It was Flaherty’s first goal since Valentine’s Day. Schepers recorded her first point since Jan. 27.

Mellissa Channell and a Toronto player tangle along the boards in game three. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Their second goal, about six minutes after the first, was a bit of good fortune from the hockey gods, perhaps making up for some tough bounces and circumstances lately. Toronto goaltender Kristen Campbell, who came into the game with a 153:34 shutout streak, didn’t realize where the puck was underneath her in the crease when it was sent into the zone. Denisa Krizova was right there to capitalize with her fourth goal of the year.

“It was certainly good to finally get a bounce for us,” Klee said. “It just allowed us to breathe a little easier.”

Toronto was “out of character”
While Minnesota felt good about getting the necessary victory to extend its season, Toronto’s postgame consisted of what coach Troy Ryan called an “extra-long chat in the dressing room.” He called Monday’s game the team’s “worst of the year.” They were outshot 11-2 in the first period and 22-9 through two periods.

“I wouldn’t say any of us staff and athletes were very happy with that performance,” Ryan said. “A little bit out of character. Our passing was off.

“Just not doing the little things that have made our group successful all year. We’ve just got to be better, without a doubt, in all areas.”

Whether it was Toronto not playing like themselves, or Minnesota finally getting something to go their way, Klee said he was proud of his team effort and resiliency.

Rooney mentioned the word “resilient” when asked for a word to describe the game. Schepers also referred to Minnesota as a “resilient group” in terms of the coaching staff and team leaders doing a good job of instilling belief in the room throughout this tough, winless stretch. They’ve been in many close games and haven’t felt their belief in each other dip, Schepers said.

“It’s great to get back in the win column tonight, obviously in a huge moment,” Schepers said. “But just a credit to the character of our group and how we never quit on each other.

“We’re in this thing now.”

The post Breaking The Ice appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Although it wasn’t included in Bally Sports North’s slate of televised games, Minnesota State took to the outdoor ice with a team loaded with experience on Hockey Day Minnesota’s biggest stage. In fact, of the seven Mavericks who have participated in the event previously, six of them skated their second games on Hockey Day ice in Mankato.

“Both experiences were great on their own … but I think this one was extra special because it’s been a week long event and just to be able to close it out, it’s been pretty great,” said senior Taylor Wemple, who skated for St. Cloud State in the Huskies’ shootout win over over Minnesota Duluth in 2018 on the shores of St. Cloud’s Lake George. 

The list includes senior defenseman, and team captain, Anna Wilgren, who sat out the outdoor game, as she will her team’s remaining games this season, to preserve eligibility after missing much of her senior year on the U.S. women’s hockey residency roster. Wilgren, who played in MSU’s bitterly-cold 2-1 win over Bemidji State in 2019′ event, was one of Team USA’s final three cuts prior to the 2022 Olympic roster reveal at the NHL’s Winter Classic. 

Senior assistant captains Jessia Kondas, Brittyn Fleming and Claire Butorac are also Bemidji veterans along with fellow senior Brooke Bryant. Meanwhile, another transfer, junior Sydney Shearen, skated for the Gophers in their 2-1 win over Ohio State in 2020 at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis.

Butorac, a former Andover High School star, had the added benefit of hosting her alma mater which shut out Edina 4-0 to open Hockey Day’s televised action on Saturday morning. She spent time with the team showing them around the rink at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

“It was fun just to see all the little girls I used to coach that are in high school now and see my high school coaches and just wish them luck before they got to come out here and experience Mankato,” Butorac.

Teammates who had yet to play in the Hockey Day environment asked those who had for advice going into the weekend but it mostly came down to preparations for the cold. The majority of the conversations, the players said, concentrated on sharing memories they’ll hold onto forever.

“The key of these games is to just have fun,” said Shearen, a Hugo, Minn. native who played her high school hockey for White Bear Lake. “You only get this opportunity once in a lifetime; I was lucky enough to get twice.”

Butorac says this experience easily ranks in her top five as a Maverick.

“It’s awesome, this is a great stadium to play in,” Butorac said. “This town supports our school so much, so I’m very grateful to be a Maverick, especially today.”

The post Twice in a Lifetime Experience appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.