The Minnesota Frost staved off elimination with a hard-fought 3-1 comeback victory over the Montreal Victoire on Friday night in Game 4 of the PWHL semifinals.
Montreal’s Maureen Murphy broke the deadlock after 41 minutes of another tightly contested matchup. But the Frost, well-acquainted with postseason pressure, responded with three goals in the final 12 minutes of regulation to force a winner-take-all Game 5 back in Montreal.
Defenseman Sidney Morin continued her scorching playoff performance, netting two goals within a span of less than four minutes to propel Minnesota to a deciding game. Her second goal of the night—scored on the power play after Laura Stacey was called for roughing—stood as the game-winner. It also snapped Minnesota’s uncharacteristic drought of 10 consecutive failed power-play opportunities. The Frost boasted the league’s best power-play unit (23 percent) during the regular season.
Kelly Pannek, who led the regular season in goals (16) and points (33), scored her first playoff goal into an empty Montreal net to seal the win. Maddie Rooney, playing on back-to-back nights, was again outstanding for the Frost, stopping 29 of 30 shots. Montreal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens turned aside 28 of 30 shots.
The Minnesota Frost improved to 5-0 all-time when facing elimination in the playoffs.
**Sidney Morin steps up again**
After Minnesota lost four key blue-line pieces in the offseason—Claire Thompson, Sophie Jaques, and Mellissa Channell-Watkins signed with expansion Vancouver, while Maggie Flaherty joined Montreal—the Frost signed Morin from the Boston Fleet.
“Our staff had identified Sidney Morin as a top target heading into the signing period,” general manager Melissa Caruso said last June. “She’s a reliable defender whose work ethic and offensive abilities will complement our D-core perfectly.”
Morin played a steady role on the Frost’s blue line during the regular season but did not score a goal. The playoffs have been a different story. Her four goals in four games match her career total in 84 regular-season games and now lead the postseason.
She has scored three of Minnesota’s last four goals in a rare playoff back-to-back and also notched a critical goal in Minnesota’s 5-4 overtime win in Game 1.
Much of Minnesota’s regular-season success hinged on its star forwards. The Frost owned the league’s best offense (91 goals) and the top group of five forwards: Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Britta Curl-Salemme combined for 65 goals this season—more than the entire output of three teams: Toronto, New York, and Seattle.
But it has been the team’s depth that has delivered in the postseason so far.
**Maddie Rooney rises to the occasion**
It was somewhat surprising to see Rooney start four consecutive games for Minnesota, including back-to-back nights on Thursday and Friday. Coach Ken Klee typically rotates his goaltenders, and with three games in four nights—including travel from Montreal to Minnesota—it would have made sense to give Nicole Hensley at least one start in Games 3 or 4.
If Hensley was to get into a game, it likely would have been Game 3 to give Rooney a rest for a high-stakes Game 4. However, Rooney has been exceptional throughout the series and has earned every minute in net.
That should come as no shock. Rooney, like the Frost as a whole, is a proven playoff performer. She posted a perfect 5-0 record in last year’s championship run with an absurd 1.12 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
