PWHL playoff notebook: 1st line driving Minnesota's quest to repeat as champions

For the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, the Minnesota Frost volition beryllium playing successful the Walter Cup final.

Just similar past year, the Frost squeaked into the playoffs, clinching a spot connected the past time of the regular season.

Again, the squad was seeded fourth, and again, that didn't marque a difference. This time, it took the Frost lone 4 games to dispatch the Toronto Sceptres, aft the Frost won the deciding Game 4 successful overtime by a people of 4-3 connected Wednesday.

"We were having immoderate turnovers, having immoderate uncharacteristic mistakes," Minnesota caput manager Ken Klee said astir his players, who climbed backmost from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits successful the game.

"But astatine the extremity of the day, we recovered a mode to win. That's the biggest thing. Playoffs, you've got to find antithetic ways to triumph each night, and large recognition to our squad for doing that."

The Frost, who won the inaugural Walter Cup past season, volition instrumentality connected either the Montreal Victoire oregon Ottawa Charge successful the adjacent round. The Charge leads the best-of-five bid 2-1, and has a accidental to triumph astatine location connected Friday evening. 

One vantage the Frost whitethorn person had implicit the Sceptres: they've been playing hopeless hockey since the extremity of April conscionable to get into the post-season.

The apical enactment of skipper Kendall Coyne Schofield, reigning playoff MVP Taylor Heise and Michela Cava led the mode successful Game 4. The overtime victor was Heise's archetypal extremity of this series, but that doesn't archer the full communicative of conscionable however impactful she's been.

Heise finished the bid with 7 points successful 4 games. In the past 2 games, she won much than 61 per cent of the faceoffs she took.

WATCH | Heise sends Frost backmost to PWHL finals with OT victor that eliminates Sceptres:

Coyne Schofield besides came into Game 4 without a goal, but picked up 2 successful this game. They were some large for her team. The archetypal came conscionable 14 seconds aft Toronto took a 2-0 lead, and the 2nd tied the crippled successful the 3rd play and forced overtime. 

"It's a crippled of inches," the skipper said aft the game. "It's a crippled of mistakes. I deliberation astatine times, games aren't won, they're lost. It took everybody contiguous arsenic it did this full series, and that's what it's going to instrumentality moving forward."

The triumph means Minnesota gets an other time oregon 2 astatine location alternatively of boarding a 7 a.m. formation to Toronto for Game 5. For Coyne Schofield, it means much clip with her toddler son, Drew. 

Klee suggested that was a driving origin for Coyne Schofield's performance.

"She's spent capable clip distant from Drew lately," helium said. "I deliberation she's like, 'I'm not letting it happen. If I tin walk 2 oregon 3 much days astatine location with my kid, I'm doing it.' She was outstanding tonight."

Ryan 'incredibly proud' aft play of adversity

The visitors were near to committee that level backmost to Toronto connected Thursday greeting with their play over and tons of clip to deliberation astir what went wrong.

Unlike a high-scoring Game 3, it felt similar the Sceptres were ever successful this one, implicit 3 periods of tight-checking hockey and not a azygous punishment called.

"I'm incredibly arrogant of the effort, the attitude, the playing wrong our squad structure, the conflict level and the vie level that our radical showed passim that game," caput manager Troy Ryan said connected Wednesday night.

After goaltender Kristen Campbell allowed 7 goals successful Game 3, Ryan decided to swap his starter retired for Carly "CJ" Jackson. It was the backup goaltender's 2nd vocation PWHL start, coming successful a must-win, do-or-die scenario.

Jackson made 22 saves connected 26 shots, and couldn't beryllium blamed for Heise's overtime winner. Heise had clip and space, portion Jackson was screened by respective players.

"I thought CJ truly answered the telephone and gave america an accidental to win," Ryan said.

Where does Toronto spell from here? Key forwards Hannah Miller, Natalie Spooner and Jesse Compher are each connected expiring contracts. Like each different squad successful the league, Toronto volition suffer talented players to Seattle and Vancouver successful the enlargement draft.

Despite opting to commencement Jackson successful Game 4, Ryan reiterated the team's religion successful Campbell.

"Soupy's a large goaltender that had not a large crippled astatine not an perfect time," Ryan said.

Injuries were a large portion of the Sceptres' season. Beyond Kirk, the Sceptres were without Spooner, Miller and Sarah Nurse astatine points. Spooner returned from off-season country successful February but hasn't rather looked similar herself yet.

Defender Renata Fast had a vocation year, eating cardinal minutes for the Sceptres and quarterbacking the league's apical powerfulness play.

It earned her a defender of the twelvemonth information connected Wednesday. Fast described the information arsenic an honour. But it was acold comfortableness aft her play ended.

"It's hard to truly deliberation astir it now," Fast said. "Just disappointed."

Solving the Gwyneth Philips puzzle

Like the Frost, the Charge person been successful playoff mode dating backmost to the regular season, arsenic they pushed to get into the postseason.

It's thing caput manager Carla MacLeod has brought up to picture her team's mindset and confidence. It whitethorn beryllium the team's archetypal playoff berth, but the desperation isn't a caller feeling.

They spell into Friday's Game 4 astatine location with a accidental to destruct the top-seeded Victoire, after rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips posted a shutout en way to a 1-0 Game 3 triumph connected Tuesday.

Philips recovered herself successful the starter's relation aft Emerance Maschmeyer was wounded successful March. If she's felt pressure, it hasn't shown.

"Pretty overmuch immoderate changeable that goes connected net, we cognize Gwen's got it," Ottawa guardant Mannon McMahon, who scored the crippled victor connected Tuesday, said astir her goaltender. "She's truly special. In the locker country and stuff, she's the 1 cracking jokes. She's the large one. She's truthful calm and I deliberation that wears disconnected connected the remainder of us." 

On Thursday, Philips was nominated for goaltender of the twelvemonth alongside Montreal's Ann-Renée Desbiens and Boston's Aerin Frankel.

Just arsenic it did successful Game 3, the bid whitethorn travel down to a conflict betwixt the rookie, Philips, and the veteran, Desbiens, who led the league successful prevention percentage, goals against mean and wins successful the regular season.

Consider that the Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey person a combined 47 shots connected extremity implicit the bid and lone 1 extremity each to amusement for it.

"We request to bash a amended occupation of taking her eyes away," Montreal defender Erin Ambrose told reporters aft Tuesday's game.

"She is an elite goaltender. She's shown that successful aggregate areas, aggregate games some internationally and here. But I besides deliberation we person elite extremity scorers connected this team, and we've conscionable got to find a mode to get soiled [goals] astatine times."