The Minnesota Frost clinched their third consecutive PWHL playoff berth with their win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes last Saturday. Here are five things to pay close attention to in the Frost’s final five regular-season games.
Playoff Seeding
Currently, the Frost are third in the PWHL with 46 points. The Frost are nine points behind the Montréal Victoire in first place, and eight points behind the Boston Fleet in second. Finishing in first is unlikely, but second place would assure Minnesota home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
Catching Montréal or Boston will be a tall order, but home ice would be a major boost for a Frost team that has struggled against the Fleet and the Victoire this season. Minnesota is winless in four tries against Montréal and 1-2 against Boston. The Frost and the Fleet will meet one more time this season on April 15 in a game that will have major implications for playoff seeding.
Barring a major shakeup in the standings, the Frost will play either Montréal or Boston in the first round of the PWHL playoffs. A strong finish to the regular season could give Minnesota the home ice advantage in that series.
Frost scorers chasing regular-season records
In the final five games of the regular season, Kelly Pannek and Taylor Heise are chasing several PWHL single-season records.
Pannek has been phenomenal all season. She’s contributed 28 points in 25 games, including a league-leading 14 goals. She has scored more points this season than she scored in her previous two PWHL seasons combined (27). Pannek is two points away from becoming the first PWHL player to score 30 or more points in a season. Pannek is also one power play goal away from setting a new PWHL single-season record for power play goals.
Not to be outdone, Taylor Heise is also in the midst of a career season. In 25 games, Heise has ten goals, 16 assists, and 26 points — all career highs. She is also on pace to break 30 points, and with one more assist, she will set a new single-season assist record in the PWHL. Heise has been on a tear since returning from the Olympics, scoring seven goals in ten games.
As a team, the Frost are on pace to break their goalscoring record from last season. The Frost led the league with 85 goals scored in 30 games last year. That’s 2.83 goals per game played. This season, Minnesota has scored 78 goals in 25 games, which is 3.12 goals per game.
Frost Goaltending: Will the regular-season success translate to another playoff run?
Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney struggled last year during the regular season; both goalies were at the bottom of the league in save percentage. Despite the regular season struggles, Minnesota decided to stick with the pair heading into the 2025-2026 season. That decision has paid off.
This season, Maddie Rooney has put up a career regular season best .919 save percentage in 14 games, and Hensley has a .915 in 11 games. The pair have combined for a .917 save percentage, sixth best in the PWHL. It hasn’t always been perfect, but with the league’s best offense in front of them once again this season, the goaltending has been good enough.
In the past two Walter Cup title runs, the Frost have gotten great goaltending from Hensley and Rooney in the playoffs. Both have been able to raise their game when the stakes were highest. If either can get hot again as the regular season comes to a close, the Frost will be hard to beat come playoff time.
Power Play Precision
With so much offensive talent, it’s no surprise the Frost’s power play has been so good. This season, the Frost have the best power play in the PWHL at 23.6%. Kelly Pannek leads the PWHL with seven power-play goals, and rookie Kendall Cooper is tied for the league lead with six assists on the power-play.
The power play has been especially good recently. Minnesota has scored five power-play goals in its last three games, including three power-play goals in the 6-5 win over Vancouver. With goals harder to come by in the playoffs, the Frost will look to keep the power play red hot as they finish out the regular season.
Defense Core: How do the pieces fit?
The Minnesota Frost made the biggest move at the trade deadline by adding defender Jincy Roese. Roese has played two games with Minnesota so far, averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time per game. In those two games, she’s tallied one assist and has a plus-minus of -2.
Since adding Roese, the Frost haven’t had the chance to deploy their full-strength blue line due to an injury to Natalie Buchbinder. Buchbinder has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury. She’s been great for Minnesota this season; Buchbinder is plus 12, averaging over 17 minutes a night. Buchbinder’s return to full strength will be imperative for the Frost’s playoff aspirations.
The Frost have plenty of talented options on their back end to mix and match. Lee Stecklein has been great again this season; she is among the league leaders in plus-minus. Kendall Cooper has scored 15 points, which is second among rookie defenders and fourth among all defenders in the PWHL. Mae Batherson has also chipped in 12 points. Both Cooper and Batherson are in the top ten in the PWHL in plus-minus among defenders.
In these final five regular-season games, Buchbinder’s injury status will be worth keeping a close eye on. If and when Buchbinder returns, I’ll be interested to see who head coach Ken Klee pairs together and how he deploys the group. These final regular-season games will be important for solidifying roles, and they should also give some indication of who the coaching staff will lean on come playoff time.
The Minnesota Frost are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they take on the New York Sirens at Grand Casino Arena.