PWHL playoff notebook: A top seed toppled in Game 1 and a suspended rookie

When Game 2 of the best-of-five bid betwixt the Toronto Sceptres and Minnesota Frost resumes connected Friday nighttime astatine Coca-Cola Coliseum, it volition beryllium without Frost rookie Britta Curl-Salemme.

The league announced connected Friday that it had suspended Curl-Salemme for a "high and forceful check" to the caput of Toronto defender Renata Fast. She was assessed a five-minute large punishment and crippled misconduct, which ended her night.

Fast, who has arguably been Toronto's champion subordinate this season, took immoderate clip to get backmost to her feet. She resumed play, and caput manager Troy Ryan said connected Thursday that "everything's fine" with Fast.

Toronto's captain, Blayre Turnbull, made it wide that she didn't similar the play.

"I thought it was a beauteous disfigured hit," she said aft the game.

In reviewing the hit, the PWHL's Player Safety Committee determined that Curl-Salemme made Fast's caput the main constituent of interaction connected a play "where specified interaction to the caput was avoidable."

It's the 3rd clip this play that Curl-Salemme has been suspended, arsenic the league looks to ace down connected hits to the head. She missed 1 crippled successful January aft a high-sticking incident, and different successful March for different amerciable deed to the head.

The time earlier her astir caller suspension was announced, Minnesota Frost caput manager Ken Klee defended his player, describing the deed arsenic a "hockey play."

"She's not a malicious subordinate oregon a malicious idiosyncratic who's retired trying to get someone," Klee said.

But Klee said Curl-Salemme is "trying to larn from it and support knowing wherever that enactment is." 

WATCH | Gosling records brace arsenic Toronto wins Game 1 against the Minnesota Frost:

Finding that enactment and adjusting to it has been a absorption for everyone successful the league, from those enforcing the rules to the players who person to travel them. But being suspended connected 3 abstracted occasions successful 1 PWHL play is thing lone Curl-Salemme has nether her belt.

Her squad volition wage a price. Curl-Salemme scored 1 of lone 2 goals for the Frost successful the archetypal game. Now, they'll person to effort to adjacent the bid without her.

Game 2 begins astatine 7 p.m. ET connected Friday wrong Toronto's Coca-Cola Coliseum.

A rookie with a almighty shot

The Sceptres' 3-2 triumph connected Wednesday was fuelled by different rookie: Julia Gosling, who registered 2 goals, including her archetypal vocation extremity astatine five-on-five.

Gosling has size and a almighty shot, but took a small portion to turn into her relation with Toronto this season.

Even arsenic she's gone done that adjustment, Toronto's top-ranked powerfulness play has been astatine its champion with Gosling successful the bumper position. She scored 4 powerfulness play goals implicit the regular season, tied for 2nd successful the league with bully company: teammates Hannah Miller and Daryl Watts, arsenic good arsenic Montreal's Laura Stacey and Boston's Hilary Knight.

What makes her changeable special? According to Sceptres teammate, Natalie Spooner, it's some the speedy merchandise and however hard it is, which tin drawback goaltenders by surprise. Spooner had been shouting astatine Gosling from the seat to occurrence the puck up of her archetypal goal.

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"In this league, if you tin play successful antithetic scenarios and antithetic lines and with antithetic people, I deliberation it volition conscionable marque you the astir successful," Gosling said. "Today I got it done and I deliberation it's conscionable been gathering implicit the season."

Toronto celebrated the triumph connected the crystal connected Wednesday, but they cognize precisely however hard it is to extremity a series. The squad was up 2-0 connected Minnesota past twelvemonth earlier losing successful 5 games, a representation the Sceptres person been keen to hitch distant and not dwell on.

It's a antithetic squad this season, 1 that's been done much adversity, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to injuries. The adjacent measurement is to beryllium the squad tin person a antithetic outcome.

"Our squad has ever recovered ways to triumph oregon to get points nary substance who's successful the lineup," Spooner said. "I deliberation that's thing that our squad has truly been capable to physique upon going into these playoffs and having assurance successful that it whitethorn not beryllium a beauteous triumph each night, but we're going to beryllium grinding it retired and uncovering those ways to win."

Victoire searching for 1st playoff win

The top-ranked Montreal Victoire is inactive looking for its archetypal playoff triumph aft losing 3-2 to the third-place Ottawa Charge connected Thursday. The Victoire was swept 3-0 by the Boston Fleet successful past year's playoffs.

"I had to instrumentality a heavy enactment earlier coming successful present due to the fact that it hurts," she said. "Losing hurts. Especially successful the playoffs erstwhile you privation it that bad."

The positive? Both of the Victoire's powerfulness play units recovered the backmost of the net, contempt struggling astatine points during the regular season.

WATCH | Charge decision Victoire successful playoff debut:

Even though it wasn't the team's champion game —head manager Kori Cheverie pointed to details similar missed clears connected the punishment kill, connected apical of taking excessively galore penalties — Stacey felt Montreal stayed with Ottawa passim the game. Do that for 60 minutes and Stacey suggested her squad would look "scary," conscionable arsenic they did astatine points passim the regular season.

"They person to find a way," Cheverie said. "We arsenic a corporate person to find a way."

Darkangelo's development

Both teams thin to triumph erstwhile their captains score, and some the Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin and the Charge's Brianne Jenner found the scoresheet successful Game 1.

This time, it was newly-minted Ottawa Charge adjunct skipper Shiann Darkangelo who made the difference, scoring the crippled victor successful the third. 

Darkangelo was acquired by Ottawa astatine the commercialized deadline past twelvemonth to assistance the squad adjacent retired games, a weakness identified by GM Mike Hirshfeld.

She's done precisely that implicit the Charge's playoff propulsion and present into the postseason. Darkangelo has 10 points successful her past 9 games, including 4 goals.

"She's a large person for us," Jenner said aft Thursday's game. "She plays the crippled the close way, 200-foot player. We're conscionable seeing her get rewarded for that play."

WATCH | Fan excitement rises down top-seeded Montreal Victoire successful the PWHL playoffs:

Rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips, thrown into the starter's presumption aft an wounded to Emerance Maschmeyer, besides made a difference.

She stopped respective bully opportunities from Montreal. The apical enactment of Poulin, Stacey and Jennifer Gardiner registered a full of 18 shots combined.

A batch has been made astir the Victoire's determination to prime the Charge arsenic its opponent, a powerfulness the top-seeded squad receives. But players and manager with the Charge brushed speech the thought that getting picked could impact their mindset oregon motivation.

"It's not astir who we're playing oregon wherever we're playing," caput manager Carla MacLeod said. "It's that we are playing, and we're playing Ottawa Charge hockey close now."

Ottawa and Montreal volition play Game 2 connected Sunday astatine 2 p.m. ET astatine Place Bell successful Laval, Que.