After an Olympic break that saw six members of the Minnesota Frost win gold with Team USA, the Frost return to PWHL action this week in Montréal. Before the second half of the PWHL season begins for the Frost, let’s analyze their first-half success.
How did we get here?
Through 15 games, the Frost sit second in the PWHL standings with 28 points, two behind the league-leading Boston Fleet. Currently, the Frost have a six-point cushion on the fourth and final playoff spot. Their .622 points percentage so far puts them on pace for 56 points. Last season, the Frost finished in fourth place with 44 points.
What’s Working?
Goal scoring
The Frost are once again outscoring their problems. Through 15 games, they have scored 48 goals, the most in the PWHL. According to HockeySkytte, a league-leading 29 of those goals have come at five-on-five. All those goals have helped the Frost outscore their opponents at five-on-five; they have a 61.7% goals-for percentage. If the five-on-five success wasn’t enough, The Frost’s power play has also been good. Through 15 games, the Frost have a 20.5% power play percentage, which is second best in the league behind the Ottawa Charge.
Powering all of this offense is the Frost’s PWHL leading 10.9% shooting percentage. Is that league-leading shooting percentage a product of the great shooters the Frost have and the chances they are creating? Or are they getting a bit of luck and scoring more often than their chances merit? Only time will tell, but it will be worth keeping an eye on that shooting percentage in the second half.
Unsurprisingly, several Frost players find themselves at the top of the league leaderboards for offensive statistics. The top four scorers in the PWHL are all members of the Frost: Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, and Taylor Heise all have 16 points, and Kelly Pannek has 15. All four players are on pace to smash their career-best point totals, and Curl-Salemme has already bested her 15 points in 28 games from last season. Kendall Coyne Schofield and Kelly Pannek are second and third in the league in goalscoring, with ten goals and eight goals, respectively. Pannek’s eight goals are more than she scored in her first two PWHL seasons combined.
The Frost are also getting offensive contributions from their defenders; Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper are both in the top five in scoring among defenders. Batherson scored only three points in her rookie season, but she’s taken a big step offensively in year two. She is currently second in the league in points by defenders with two goals and eight assists for ten points. Kendall Cooper has also been productive offensively in her rookie year. She didn’t score a point in her first four games, but since then, she’s ripped off nine points in eleven games, including a six-game point streak during that time. Cooper leads all rookie defenders with nine points. Veteran Sidney Morin, who was a free agent signing by the Frost this offseason, has also added five points and is on pace for the highest point total of her PWHL career.
Goaltending
After some shaky goaltending in the past two regular seasons, both Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney have been solid for the Frost this season. Hensley currently sits fourth in the league with a .946 save percentage across seven starts, and Maddie Rooney has a .916 save percentage in eight starts. Rooney hasn’t been quite as good as Hensley so far, but Rooney was trending upward heading into the Olympic break. In her last four starts before the break, Rooney allowed only 8 goals and posted a .935 save percentage. The Frost won three of those four games; the only loss was in overtime at Montreal. Heading into the season, goaltending was a question mark for the Frost. So far, Rooney and Hensley have silenced the critics, combining for a .930 save percentage, third best in the PWHL.
What to Watch in The Second Half
Secondary Scoring
With Dominique Petrie out for the rest of the season, the Frost will need to continue to get offensive contributions throughout their lineup to keep up their current goalscoring pace. So far this season, Katy Knoll has been one of the many bright spots. Knoll built on her strong playoff performance last season by scoring six goals in her first 15 games this season. But it’s been more than just Knoll. Grace Zumwinkle has bounced back from a quiet sophomore campaign with six goals and nine points, including three goals and six points in her last five games before the Olympic break. Rookie Abby Hustler has also chipped in eight points, fourth most among rookie forwards.
Condensed Schedule
In the first half of this PWHL season, the Frost played 15 games over 68 days. In the second half, they’re looking at 15 games in 55 days. The condensed schedule means less time for rest and recovery. It will be a challenge for all teams, and it will be worth keeping an eye on how teams recover from one game to the next in the second half.
The Frost begin the second half with a short two-game road trip. They take on the Montréal Victoire on Sunday, March 1st, before traveling to Toronto for a date with the Sceptres one week later on Sunday, March 8th.