Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield each recorded three points as the Minnesota Frost defeated the Toronto Sceptres 5-1 in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,318 at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Tuesday night. 
Heise assisted on Minnesota’s first three goals, while Coyne Schofield notched two goals and an assist on the Frost’s final three tallies.
Toronto opened the scoring just 4:55 into the first period as Daryl Watts recorded her 50th career PWHL point with a goal for the third straight game. Minnesota responded quickly, tying the game less than two minutes later on a goal from Katy Knoll, then taking the lead on a Britta Curl-Salemme tally, with Heise assisting on both.
The scoring continued for the visitors in the second period as Grace Zumwinkle notched her third goal of the season, a power play marker, assisted by Coyne Schofield and Heise, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead. Coyne Schofield added her sixth goal of the season with six seconds remaining in the second period before finishing the scoring with her league-leading seventh goal, an empty-netter, at 16:43 of the third.
Sceptres starter Elaine Chuli made 14 saves on 18 shots before Raygan Kirk took over in the third period, stopping both shots she faced.
Nicole Hensley made 31 saves for the Frost, who leapfrogged Toronto in the standings, moving from third to second place. The Frost have points in each of their last four games, while the Sceptres’ four-game point streak comes to an end.
QUOTES
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on Mae Batherson’s growth from last season to now: “I think her confidence level — I think it’s a difference of a first-year player to a second-year player, where she knows she can play in this league. She knows she can make an impact. She’s offensively gifted…so I think she’s looking to make plays and she’s excited to make plays. For me, it’s just her confidence level I think has really come up.”
Goaltender Nicole Hensley on what has been working well this season: “I’ve been just trying to be calm and collected and be solid presence for our team so they can go out and have confidence in front of me. I think Maddie [Rooney], Pete [Samargia], Bois [Marlène Boissonnault] and I have been doing a lot of good work at practice, focusing on the little things of our game. I think that’s really helped shine through for both Maddie [Rooney] and I so far.”
Toronto forward Daryl Watts on being the second player to reach 50 PWHL points: “Being in the same category as Poulin is pretty cool. She’s my idol — ever since I was little, so it’s pretty cool to be there with her. It’s a bit bittersweet to lose the game tonight the way we did.”
Sceptres Head Coach Troy Ryan on the decision to change goaltenders for the third period: “Never an easy decision to make. Coaches usually have two different or three maybe reasons: someone gets injured, someone’s not making the saves they should make, or you’re just trying to shake up your team. To me, I think it’s probably more of a combination of: shake up the team and, I think there’s two goals that she’d like to have back, and we need to have our goalie make those saves when we’re not putting the puck in the net. We need to keep it close –– she [Chuli] knows that, she acknowledged it after the game. There was no other intent. Doesn’t mean she’s a bad goaltender — she’s a great goaltender — we’d just like to have a couple of those back.”
NOTABLES
Minnesota has scored five goals in three different games so far this season, more than all other teams combined. The Frost now lead the league with 24 goals and a plus-9 differential.
Toronto has scored the game’s first goal in six of their nine games this season, the most of any PWHL team, but have just two victories in those games.
Taylor Heise recorded three assists for the first time in a regular-season game but previously had three helpers in Minnesota’s 7-5 win over Toronto in Game 3 of the PWHL Playoffs on May 11. It was also her second career three-point performance in regular-season action, following two goals and one assist against Toronto on Jan. 10, 2024. She now has points in back-to-back games for the first time this season and six points in her last four games after going pointless through the first four.
Kendall Coyne Schofield now leads the PWHL with seven goals in eight games, surpassing her total (6) from 24 games in 2024 and more than halfway to her 12-goal total from 2024–25 in 30 games. With two goals and an assist in the game, she now has nine points (7G, 2A), sitting second in the league.
Daryl Watts reached her 50th career PWHL point with a team-leading fourth goal of the season, becoming just the second player in league history to do so following Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL). The goal extended her goal streak to three games — tied for the longest in the PWHL this season (Abby Newhook, BOS) and the longest of her career — while also extending her point streak to four (3G, 1A).
Britta Curl-Salemme became the first player to reach 10 points (3G, 7A) this season with her first-period tally and leads the PWHL scoring race by one point. She now has points in four straight games (3G, 2A), establishing a new career high.
Nicole Hensley has won four of her five starts this season in regulation, with her lone loss coming in overtime against Ottawa on Dec. 21. She sits second in wins in the PWHL, tied with Gwyneth Philips (OTT), and one behind league-leader Aerin Frankel (BOS). She has stopped 30 or more shots in three games this season after having one such game during the 2024-25 campaign.
Kendall Cooper notched an assist to extend her point streak to four games (5A), the longest streak for a rookie this season, and sits tied for second in the PWHL in rookie scoring (5). Mae Batherson also recorded an assist for the fourth straight game, giving her five points (1G, 4A) in a career-high four-game point streak. The matching four-game assist streaks are the longest in the PWHL this season, and the two defenders share the point lead (5) among Frost blueliners.
Grace Zumwinkle’s power play goal was her second of the season on the advantage, tying her for first among all PWHL skaters. The tally gives her two power play goals for the third consecutive season in just the eighth game of the campaign.
Abby Hustler has points in back-to-back games for the first time in her young PWHL career, recording the primary assist on Minnesota’s fourth goal of the game. Both of her assists this season have been primary, giving the 2025 second-round pick three points (1G, 2A) in her first eight career games.
Katy Knoll’s first-period goal gives her two on the season in eight games, doubling her goal total and matching her point output (2) from 2024-25 in 21 games played. 
Sidney Morin recorded an assist for the second straight game after going pointless in her first six games of the 2025–26 season. It’s the third time in her career that she has posted points in back-to-back games, having done so twice last season (Feb. 23 & Mar. 1 and Jan. 11 & 22) with Boston.
Renata Fast returned to the Sceptres lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. The 2024-25 PWHL Defender of the Year notched a primary assist and 21:08 time-on-ice in her return.
Ella Shelton recorded her first assist of the season, and her first in a Sceptres uniform. She also scored her first goal of the season against Minnesota — in the opener on Nov. 21 — and has three points (2G, 1A) in nine games this season.
Elaine Chuli started consecutive games for Toronto for the first time this season. Heading into tonight’s game, Chuli had won her first three starts of the season, all in regulation.
Allie Munroe missed a second straight game on the Sceptres blue line and is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THREE STARS
1. Nicole Hensley (MN) 31/32 SV
2. Taylor Heise (MN) 3A
3. Daryl Watts (TOR) 1G
STANDINGS
Minnesota (4-1-1-2) – 2nd Place
Toronto (4-0-2-3) – 3rd Place
You must be logged in to post a comment.