Game three between the Minnesota Frost and the Montréal Victoire felt a lot like game two. The series shifted to St. Paul, but the change in venue didn’t change the tenor of this series. It was another tight, back-and-forth affair, but like game two, the Montréal Victoire came out on top. The win gives Montréal a commanding two-to-one series lead.
The Frost started fast. Sidney Morin scored less than five minutes into the first period to give Minnesota a lead. Morin’s point shot through a screen was her second goal of the series.
But Morin’s early goal was the only one the Frost could muster. The Victoire found their feet and scored two quick goals in the second period to take the lead. First, former Frost defender Maggie Flaherty slammed a rebound home to tie the game. Less than 30 seconds later, a Hayley Scamurra shot through a screen beat Rooney on the glove side. Within a matter of seconds, Montréal was in front.
The Frost pushed hard in the third, outshooting the Victoire 11-1 in the period, but they weren’t able to beat Ann-Renée Desbiens. Several timely shot blocks by the Victoire helped keep the Frost off the scoreboard. The Victoire survived a big Frost push in the final seconds and held on to win the game 2-1.
Frost power play sputters again
The PWHL’s best power play in the regular season continues to struggle against the league’s best penalty kill. The Frost went 1-for-5 on the power play in game one. Since then, they’re 0-for-12, including 0-for-7 on the power play in game three. They are 1-for-14 in the series.
“I mean, it’s a little bit of execution, a little bit of shot selection,” Frost head coach Ken Klee said postgame of the power-play struggles in game three. “If our passes aren’t quite on, you know, to me, we’re holding [the puck] a little longer and then trying to put a pass to where it was there, you know, two seconds ago, maybe it’s not there.”
However, despite the struggles, Klee remains confident in his power play group.
“We have a great group. We have a lot of confidence in them. They’re obviously great players for a reason, [and] they put up big numbers all year for us. We had the number one power play, so we certainly believe in them,” Klee said.
The Victoire’s penalty killing prowess has been on display all series. Montréal has done a good job clogging up the neutral zone, making it hard for the Frost to enter the offensive zone. Once they’ve gotten into the zone, the Frost have struggled to create many opportunities.
“I think it [the penalty kill] has been a big part of our identity all season, and certainly the players today showed no waver in that,” Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie said postgame. “It was just truly a mentality that you’re going up against the best power play in the league, and we know we have to shut them down. We know what they’re trying to do, what their big players are trying to achieve. They’re skilled, and they can make teams pay. So for us, we would have liked to have maybe less penalties, but certainly happy with the job that we did.”
The Frost have scored four 5-on-5 goals in three games against the Victoire, but only one since game one. Minnesota will need to find the power play success they had in the regular season to keep this series alive on Friday.
There isn’t much time to make adjustments, but Frost forward Taylor Heise is confident the power play group will make a difference in game four.
“I think the more we can come out tomorrow with an open mindset and realize, it’s anyone’s game, and just understand that the power play, it’s not a time to grip your stick hard and white knuckle the puck, but just go out there and have fun. That’s what we always have to remember,” Heise said.
Game four between the Minnesota Frost and the Montréal Victoire will take place Friday, May 8th. Puck drop in St. Paul is at 7:30 p.m. C.T.