Over the course of the PWHL postseason, PDRD will take the form of a playoff series recap following each of their conclusions. Here, the second-seeded Toronto Sceptres and the fourth-seeded Minnesota Frost meet in the semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Wednesday, May 7: Game 1 (Toronto, ON)

First period

Energized by the home crowd and the desire to redeem themselves from last season’s series, the Sceptres started very strong in Game 1, led by their captain. Blayre Turnbull took the puck off the half-wall and crashed the net, bowling over Nicole Hensley in the process, though she’d be no worse for wear. Izzy Daniel, now on Toronto’s new-look first line with Daryl Watts and Sarah Nurse, had a chance of her own after a giveaway but couldn’t stuff it through Hensley.

Minnesota reset at the TV time-out, getting some good chances from Denisa Křížová and Claire Thompson, but they sacrificed some defence in doing so. Laura Kluge and Jesse Compher were allowed to walk right in for wrist shots, the former blocked by Natalie Buchbinder and the latter snared by Hensley. This culminated in yet another power move by Turnbull, reaching around the pad of the Frost goaltender to deposit the first goal of the playoffs.

Second period

Turnbull was right at the forefront once again at the start of the period, taking a shot that knocked Thompson’s stick clean out of her hands. However, just as the veteran would take over the first period, a rookie would end up taking over the second. Julia Gosling picked off a breakout pass from Michela Cava, and while her first shot was blocked by Mellissa Channell-Watkins, it rebounded right back to Gosling, and she was able to beat Hensley to make it 2–0.

Minnesota’s response to the goal was mixed. They immediately got a dangerous chance off the stick of Liz Schepers, but her try sailed over the goal. Right after, though, Brooke McQuigge would put the Frost shorthanded, cutting off their momentum before it had the chance to build. The Sceptres’ top-ranked power play unit took the chance they were given, and it would be none other than Gosling wristing a shot from distance past Hensley’s glove, her second goal in under two minutes.

If the Frost’s response to the first Gosling goal was mixed, then the second one was a genuine rollercoaster. Not even a minute after putting them on the board, Britta Curl-Salemme threw an elbow at the head of Renata Fast, getting ejected from the game to the delight of the crowd. She’d also be handed a suspension for Game 2, her third run-in with the Player Safety Committee this season. However, on the back of a couple incredible saves from Hensley, Minnesota would limit the damage from the major penalty.

Third period

Early on, it looked like the penalty kill might have just swung the momentum for the rest of the game. Klára Hymlárová took a shot that Campbell couldn’t hold onto in her glove, and Katy Knoll whacked in the easy rebound to make it a one-goal game. However, Toronto bounced back in a big way, absolutely pelting Hensley with shots and not giving the Frost time to set anything up on offence. Near-single-handedly through sheer offensive zone pressure, the Sceptres were able to hold on for the narrow victory and the 1–0 series lead.

Final Score: Minnesota Frost 2, Toronto Sceptres 3 (TOR leads series 1–0)

Nat’s Stat: Renata Fast’s seven shots in Game 1 are the most recorded by a defender in a playoff game that ended in regulation. Montréal’s Kati Tabin ties her for the most in any postseason contest as she was credited with exactly seven shots in each of her team’s three games last season, but all of them required overtime.

Friday, May 9: Game 2 (Toronto, ON)

First period

This game also began with a Toronto player crashing into a goalie, but this time it was friendly fire. Megan Carter broke up a potential breakaway and took out Campbell in doing so, but once again, all involved left unscathed. Carter’s play opened the door for the Sceptres to once again open the scoring.

Hayley Scamurra’s luck from earlier in the season, or lack thereof, continued to turn since the World Championships, as her shot deflected off Buchbinder’s stick and blooped over Maddie Rooney, who started Game 2 for the Frost.

Second period

Much like Game 1, the majority of the action took place in the second, but unlike Game 1, it would be Minnesota who kicked it off. At the centre of it was Lee Stecklein, whose offensive resurgence since Worlds continued with an explosive eight-minute stretch starting with a beautiful tip-in from a Kelly Pannek cross-ice pass.

Halfway through the period, Stecklein handed it off to Thompson, who shot wide, but Cava was there to take the bounce off the boards and flip it past an out-of-position Campbell. Rylind MacKinnon, in for Toronto in favour of Kluge, then immediately took an illegal checking penalty, where Stecklein doubled down after a winger won on the draw from Dominique Petrie. The defender’s high shot glanced off of Campbell’s glove and down into the net, quickly putting the Frost up 3–1.

The Sceptres, though, responded with two of their own in short order. Savannah Harmon beat Rooney through a screen after a give-and-go with Emma Maltais, before Allie Munroe took a bounce off the side boards and found the net with a sharp-angle shot just 27 seconds later. Toronto’s defence provided the offence to get them back into the game, and the game would go into the third tied at three.

Third period

Minnesota’s defence would have the last word in the third. Sophie Jaques moved in thanks to a passing play with Taylor Heise, and her shot slowly dribbled through Campbell to give the Frost the lead with six minutes left. Any chance the Sceptres still had was snuffed out with a late bench minor, which Channell-Watkins converted on for her first of the season and the insurance Minnesota needed to knot the series up.

Final Score: Minnesota Frost 5, Toronto Sceptres 3 (Series tied 1–1)

Nat’s Stat: After her Game 2 performance, Minnesota defender Lee Stecklein (2–1–3) joined teammate Sophie Jaques as the only blueliners with multiple multi-point games in the playoffs. Jaques (1–1-2) also recorded multiple points on Friday, bringing the total number of these games between the two to 5, more than all other defenders combined. Fellow Frost defender Mellissa Channell-Watkins, Toronto’s Renata Fast, as well as Boston’s Megan Keller and Emily Brown, all have one apiece.

Sunday, May 11: Game 3 (St. Paul, MN)

First period

Game 3 started amidst the Charge and Victoire heading to their second of an eventual four overtimes in the other series, yet somehow this one proved to be even more chaotic. It got started real quick, too, as Hymlárová sent Schepers in on a breakaway 2:33 in, and she made no mistake going five-hole on Campbell.

Maggie Flaherty appeared to put another one in a few minutes later, but it landed on the mesh to the side of the net. Not that it would matter too much, as on the very next shift, McQuigge poked in a Grace Zumwinkle pass far side to double the lead.

The next whistle was, if you can believe it, also a Frost goal. Heise found a trailing Stecklein who beat Campbell clean glove side to continue the defender’s hot streak and the goaltender’s cold streak. Watts would pounce on a loose puck in the slot to cut the lead to 3–1 about five minutes before intermission, but the first-period damage was done.

Second period

Maggie Connors continued the high-scoring affair by tipping in a Carter point shot, but Minnesota went right back to feasting on Campbell afterwards. McQuigge put in an easy rebound on the power play for her second of the night to bring it back to a two-goal game, the teams having scored a combined six goals on sixteen shots to this point.

The longest stretch without a goal would then ensue, but both teams would ensure to make up for lost time. Jaques took a one-timer from the left circle that popped out of Campbell’s glove and over her shoulder to extend the lead again, but Kali Flanagan potted a rebound just 27 seconds later to leave the game at 5–3 after two.

Third period

Unsurprisingly, the teams came out of the dressing room and just went right back to scoring. A long one-timer from Anna Kjellbin beat Rooney for her first PWHL goal, but a one-goal deficit was as close as Toronto would come.

Cava dropped two goals in quick succession, one a backhand slide along the ice and the other an easy tap-in from a Stecklein setup to put the game out of reach. Turnbull added another late to cement the game as the highest-scoring in PWHL history, regular season or playoffs, but that was when the offence would mercifully end. Minnesota would take a wild one at home, putting the Sceptres on the brink of elimination.

Final Score: Toronto Sceptres 5, Minnesota Frost 7 (MIN leads series 2–1)

Nat’s Stat: Kristen Campbell (.708) recorded the lowest save percentage by a goaltender who played the full game in PWHL history. Her counterpart, Maddie Rooney (.783), had the lowest of any netminder to play the full game and record a win, as well as the fourth-lowest overall. Between the two are Boston’s Emma Söderberg (.765) on February 14, 2024, and Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer (.778) on February 1, 2025, both against Toronto.

Wednesday, May 14: Game 4 (St. Paul, MN)

First period

Both teams switched goaltenders after the shooting gallery that was the last game, but this didn’t stop the Sceptres from scoring on their first shot. Gosling continued her trend of only scoring while Hensley was in the Minnesota net, being sprung on a breakaway by Emma Woods and going five-hole in a manner reminiscent of Schepers’ last game.

Second period

While the first period was another low-shot affair, Toronto turned it up in the second and eventually broke through again. Just as the commentary mentioned Hannah Miller’s 13-game goal drought, she ripped a wrister from the high slot off of the near post and past Hensley.

The Frost’s top line wouldn’t let the multi-goal deficit last for very long. Heise cut across the middle and shot far side, the puck getting tipped in front by Kendall Coyne Schofield—her first of the series—which cut the lead back to 2–1. Another deflection and another first would complete the comeback for Minnesota, as Kelly Pannek tipped a McQuigge shot five-hole late in the frame to tie it right up.

Third period

With their season on the line, the Sceptres came out flying, taking their lead back off a spin-and-shoot play from Emma Maltais just a minute in. However, they again couldn’t hold onto it, and it would be Coyne Schofield dragging her team back into it once more.

Jaques put the puck on goal, where the captain tipped it again. Though this one was stopped by Carly Jackson, Jaques got her own rebound and backhanded it past the goaltender’s skate and in. The game was tied at three, and it would stay that way throughout the remainder of regulation.

Overtime

The desperate Sceptres created a chaotic scramble in front of the Frost goal, but it was kept out somehow by Hensley, who settled in nicely after the Miller goal. Going the other way, Zumwinkle moved in on a two-on-one with the home crowd holding their breath, but she missed wide. She recovered it in the corner, though, and sent it to a trailing Heise.

Heise, last year’s playoff MVP, saw how well her play on the first goal worked out and given the space to do so, decided to go for it again. She circled to her forehand and shot far side across her body, and no deflection would be necessary this time. Her wrister beat Jackson clean and sent the Minnesota Frost to the Walter Cup Finals once again.

Final Score: Toronto Sceptres 3, Minnesota Frost 4 (OT) (MIN wins series 3–1)

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Photos from PWHL, @PWHL_Minnesota, and @PWHL_Toronto