Frost Stumble in Ottawa as Charge Ride Phillips to 5–2 Win

Despite a strong push and multi-point effort from Kelly Pannek, the Minnesota Frost couldn’t solve Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Phillips, falling 5–2 to the Charge in the fourth straight road game of their trip.

by Robert Brent, Let’s Play Hockey

The Minnesota Frost continued their road trip Saturday afternoon, as their matchup against the Ottawa Charge was their fourth straight game away from home. Minnesota and Ottawa’s matchup was their third of the season, with Minnesota taking the first contest and Ottawa winning the second in overtime.

The Frost have won three of their last four games coming into Saturday’s game against the Charge, with the team playing some of the best hockey of their young season.

Forward Grace Zumwinkle spoke before the game about the importance of the matchup against the Charge to continue the team’s momentum.

“We’re looking forward to another matchup against the Charge…We want to continue building 

our foundation game after game and focus on the little things that make us successful,” Zumwinkle said. “This game will be a strong opportunity for us to continue building momentum from our last game against Toronto and the road trip.”

Recap

Maddie Rooney started in the net for Minnesota, hoping to follow up on a winning effort from her last outing. The Ottawa Charge countered with Gwyneth Phillips, who played an excellent game, recording 41 saves, the last time Ottawa and Minnesota faced off.

Ottawa opened the scoring early in the first period when Brianne Jenner scored a back-door tap-in off a feed from Rory Guilday. The goal was Jenner’s fourth of the season and second against the Frost this year.

The period ended with the Charge leading 1-0 after an unsuccessful attempt on the power play from the Frost. Minnesota led the contest 12-6 in shots on goal, but weren’t able to solve Gwyneth Phillips in the first frame.

Minnesota tied the game less than a minute into the second period on the continuation of a power play from the end of the first period. Kelly Pannek tallied her fourth goal of the year on a second-chance opportunity after Mae Batherson shot a puck towards the Ottawa net. Kendall Cooper got the secondary assist, marking her fifth-straight game with a point.

Ottawa took its lead back minutes later when Emily Clark scored her first goal of the season on an impressive play. It was an individual effort from Clark, who bombed down the wing, cutting through Frost defenders before moving to the middle and firing the puck home.

Sarah Wozniewicz scored a goal of her own moments later to extend the Charge’s lead to two goals. The marker was Wozniewicz’s second of the season.

Ottawa added to its lead again when Katerina Mrazova scored her first goal of the season on an extra-attacker opportunity after Britta Curl-Salemme went to the box. Ottawa had all the momentum midway through the second, with Minnesota unable to solve Gwyneth Phillips.

Curl-Salemme made up for her penalty moments later when the forward scored a goal on a one-touch play in front of the net. Curl-Salemme is still the league’s leading scorer and has found the stat sheet in eight of the Frost’s nine games. Kelly Pannek picked up the assist on the play for her second point of the night.

The goal by Curl-Salemme closed the scoring in the second period, leaving Ottawa with a 4-2 lead heading into the third and final period.

While the second period featured a bonanza of goals, the third period was far less eventful. Minnesota pushed to score, but hit the post late in the game and couldn’t find a way to beat Phillips otherwise.

Brianne Jenner scored an empty net goal with about two minutes remaining to put the game out of reach. The Frost will travel to Laval tomorrow to take on the Victoire for the first time this season before returning to St. Paul on January 11 against Seattle.

Key Takeaways

Kendall Cooper Continues Excellent Rookie Season

While it’s always challenging to pick out positives in a losing effort, the play of Kendall Cooper is undoubtedly one thing to be excited about. The rookie defender is on a five-game point streak, during which she’s amassed six assists.

Her six points rank tied for second in scoring among all PWHL rookies, as she’s been one of the standout first-year players around the league. Saturday’s matchup with Ottawa was just another example of her excellent play this season.

Cooper logged an assist on the Frost’s first goal, a marker that came on the power play. Cooper’s offensive contributions on the power play have been noticeable over the last several games for an extra-attacker unit that’s rounding into form. Minnesota has scored a power play goal in four straight games, and Cooper has a power play assist in three of those contests.

Cooper’s influence on the game extended beyond the scoresheet as well, with the defender playing an assertive game and generating several scoring chances. The rookie played the second most of all Frost players in time on ice and registered three shots on goal. Cooper may be a rookie, but she’s already a vital part of the team.

Kelly Pannek Continues Scoring Against Ottawa

Kelly Pannek has had an excellent season for the Minnesota Frost. She’s centered the Frost’s top line all year while putting together the best offensive pace of her PWHL career. The versatile center has continued to contribute defensively and at the faceoff dot.

While Pannek has been excellent against all competition, she’s been particularly effective against the Ottawa Charge. In the first two matchups with Ottawa, Pannek registered four points with two assists in each game. Pannek continued that trend Saturday when she had another two-point game with a goal and an assist.

Pannek also continued doing all the things that make her such a valuable utility player for the Frost, going 9/16 in faceoffs and making several key plays in the offensive zone that led to scoring chances.

While the game didn’t end with the result the team would have preferred, Pannek’s effort deserves recognition. 

Gwyneth Phillips Still a Thorn in the Frost’s Side.

Minnesota and Ottawa games always seem to be tightly contested. Whether it’s the matchups they’ve played this season or last year’s championship final, the two teams always produce excellent contests. 

Unfortunately for the Frost, they’ve found themselves on the losing side of that equation two times in a row, with Gwyneth Phillips playing a significant role in both of those defeats. In Frost’s previous two losses to the Charge, Minnesota has outshot Ottawa 69-47 but has been outscored 8-4. 

Phillips’ .942 save percentage has been a key factor in Ottawa getting the better of Minnesota in those two games, and the goaltender is a crucial player for Ottawa whenever they succeed. Her 326 shots faced this season rank first among all PWHL goaltenders.

Minnesota will play Ottawa one more time this season. If they want to reverse their fortunes, finding a way to get the puck past Phillips will be of vital importance.