LAVAL, QC – The first-ever PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs meeting between the Montréal Victoire and Minnesota Frost was worth the wait as the juggernauts went back and forth in a closely contested 5-4 overtime victory for the visiting Frost, in front of 9,364 in attendance at Place Bell. Laura Stacey headlined action with the PWHL’s first-ever postseason hat trick, tying the game three different times, once in the second period and twice in the third, with both third period goals coming on the power play. Jincy Roese was Minnesota’s overtime hero, with her first-ever goal for the Frost coming four minutes and 30 seconds into the extra frame.
Minnesota went up 2-0 in the first period with goals from Katy Knoll and Kendall Coyne Schofield, but Montréal clawed back with second period goals from Shiann Darkangelo and Stacey. However, the first two times Montréal pulled even were both short-lived with Grace Zumwinkle and Sidney Morin each scoring less than one minute after Stacey’s first two equalizers, before breaking through in overtime. With seven minor penalties assessed to Montréal, and four minors and one major handed to Minnesota, special teams factored into four of the game’s nine goals scored either with a player advantage or shorthanded. Maddie Rooney turned away 21/25 shots for her league-leading ninth career playoff win, while Ann-Renée Desbiens took the loss, allowing five goals on 29 shots. The series continues Tuesday night at Place Bell at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT.
QUOTES
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on goals that shortly follow the opponent’s own: “I just think it’s our players; our players battle hard. They know that we’re going to have bumps. [Montréal] has good players – they’re going to score goals sometimes. Sometimes it’s us making mistakes or other times it’s just them making great plays. I think we know we’re going to play 60 minutes plus to make sure that we hopefully end up on the right side, so I think it’s just their mindset. It’s a tribute to them; every one of our players for how they react to it.”
Game-winning goal scorer Jincy Roese on how special it is to play for the Frost: “Joining the Frost, it’s really been an honor. This is a great group of girls, and it’s a privilege to be on this team and to get to compete with them. I mean, the mindsets on this team, the talent, the skills…to get to be part of that, it’s really a privilege of my career.”
Victoire Head Coach Kori Cheverie: “I liked our resiliency. I liked our character to keep coming back. I think spotting (our opponents) leads is not going to work out in the long run, but it’s one game and there are some things we need to clean up, and we’ll go from there.”
Montréal alternate captain Laura Stacey: “We love playing in front of our fans. We didn’t win it for them. I think every single one of us in that locker room wants to do it for ourselves and our team, but we also want to do it for the city and the fans. They show up night in and night out for us, to cheer us on, to lift us up. It was 2-0 and they still believed in us. So why wouldn’t we believe in ourselves? When you hear that noise when you cross the blue line, when you hear that noise after you score or you kill a penalty, it just ignites the bench. It really does. And we’re really excited to be back here to give them something to cheer about on Tuesday.”
NOTABLES
Minnesota won the opening game of a playoff series for the first time in team history after losing their previous four series openers.
The Frost snapped a four-game losing streak that ended their regular season and six-game head-to-head losing streak against the Victoire, dating back to March 2025, after losing all four contests of the regular season series. The Victoire have won 11 of the 16 all-time meetings (8-3-2-3) in the matchup including four of six all-time at Place Bell.
Minnesota’s last six playoff games have been overtime decisions with the team improving its all-time playoff record in overtime to 6-2.
Five of Montreal’s eight playoff games in team history have gone to overtime, dropping to 1-4 in those games with today’s loss.
Montréal has won just one of its eight all-time playoff games, last coming out on top after a quadruple overtime win at Place Bell on May 11, 2025. Their playoff record at home drops to 1-4 after posting a 9-2-1-0 record in Laval during the regular season.
Today’s game was the second highest scoring playoff contest in PWHL history with nine combined goals. The record for most goals by both teams in a playoff game is 12 (Minnesota beat Toronto, 7-5, in Game 3 on May 11, 2025).
The Victoire surrendered five goals for the first time in team history, including both regular season and playoffs. They scored four goals for the first time in team playoff history and the eighth time in 2025-26.
The Frost have scored five or more goals eight times in 2025-26.
The league’s top two power plays during the regular season both converted today with the Victoire going 2-for-5 after posting a 19.3% success rate in season, while the Frost went 1-for-5 after leading the league with a 23.0% efficiency.
Jincy Roese became the first defender in PWHL playoff history to score in overtime with her first career playoff goal and first goal as a member of the Frost, after being limited to just 4:43 time on ice during one of Ottawa’s eight-game playoff run last season due to injury. It was also the first overtime marker for the former Siren and Charge, while also counting as her first-ever game winner.
Laura Stacey’s first-ever hat trick came on a game-high six shots on goal and was the first in PWHL playoff history. It tripled her playoff goal total, after scoring one goal and one assist in seven Victoire playoff games across the 2024 and 2025 postseasons. The Montréal alternate captain’s 22 regular season points matched her career high, while placing her within the top 10 in PWHL scoring for the third consecutive season.
Grace Zumwinkle recorded her first ever multi-point playoff game, reaching the back of the net for the second time in her postseason career, and the first time since Minnesota’s inaugural postseason. The Minnesota-native had a career year, with highs in all offensive categories (13G, 10A). Across the Frost’s three postseasons, the forward has six points in 19 games.
Katy Knoll reached the back of the net in the opening game in back-to-back postseasons, scoring against the Sceptres last season, and opening scoring this afternoon. The second year forward had five points (2G, 3A) across eight Frost playoff games last season.
Kendall Coyne Schofield became the first player to score in three consecutive postseasons with her fourth career playoff goal after recording four points in each of the last two Walter Cup runs (2025 – 2G, 2A; 2024 – 1G, 3A). The Frost captain missed seven games this regular season, including two against the Victoire, but tallied three points in two games against Montréal and ended just a point away from her career high by averaging a point per game (12G, 11A).
Sidney Morin scored her first career shorthanded goal and playoff goal in her ninth postseason game and first with the Frost. The American defender scored a career high three goals in 30 regular season games this year and returns to the playoffs for the first time since tallying two assists in eight games for Boston in their inaugural season playoff run.
Shiann Darkangelo recorded her first playoff point for the Victoire, and the second of her career after scoring in Game 1 of last year’s semifinals at Place Bell as a member of the Charge. The American forward had eight points (4G, 4A) across 30 games for Montréal this regular season.
Taylor Heise extended her lead in all-time PWHL postseason points to 17 (6G, 11A) across 19 career games. The two helpers in the series opener matched her scoring line against Montréal across four regular season games this season.
Klára Hymlárová tallied her first career multi-point game, including regular season action, with two assists this afternoon. The Czech Olympian is up to seven points (1G, 6A) in nine career playoff games, just three points shy of her 10 (4G, 6A) in 58 career regular season games with the Frost.
Kelly Pannek extended her point streak to three games with her second career multi-point postseason effort, also recording two assists in last season’s Game 2 against the Sceptres. The 2025-26 PWHL scoring leader registered seven points in 18 games (2G, 5A) across the 2024 and 2025 playoffs.
Lee Stecklein picked up where she left off last May with her 12th career playoff point (4G, 8A) across 19 postseason games. The Frost alternate captain led the league in playoff points last season with eight (4G, 4A) across eight games and is averaging a point per game over the last two postseasons.
Marie-Philip Poulin’s two assists both came on Stacey goals, the first time the duo has ever combined to score in the postseason. It’s the second multi-point playoff performance from the Victoire captain, after she recorded a goal and an assist in Game 3 of Montréal’s inaugural season playoff series against Boston. The league’s all-time leading scorer is riding a six-game point streak, with points in every game she’s played since Jan. 28.
Abby Roque made her playoff debut after 83 career regular season games, coming away with two assists. The Michigan-native had a career year across all offensive categories, tying Stacey for the team lead in scoring with 22 points (8G, 14A).
Nicole Gosling became the second rookie to score a 2026 playoff point with her assist this afternoon. The helper extended her point streak to seven straight games (1G, 8A) dating back to April 3, surpassing Poulin, Stacey, and a trio of Frost players for the longest in the league this season. Gosling ended her first regular season tied at the top of the PWHL leaderboard in rookie scoring among blue liners with 19 points.
Erin Ambrose’s primary assist brought the veteran defender to four points, all helpers, across eight career playoff games. The Victoire alternate captain’s playoff season high is two points across three games set in the inaugural season versus Boston.
Lina Ljungblom tallied her first-ever playoff point with a primary assist on Montréal’s first goal. The Swedish forward ended the regular season with career highs in all offensive categories (4G, 5A) in eight games fewer than her previous high of six points (3G, 3A) in 29 games last season.
Kati Tabin recorded her second career assist in her eighth playoff game. The Canadian defender had a career year in her third season with Montréal, scoring 12 points (2G, 10A) across all 30 regular season games.
Maddie Rooney’s nine playoff wins are more than any other netminder, having not recorded a postseason loss since the inaugural season. Including this afternoon, the Minnesota-born netminder has allowed four or more goals once in each of her three postseasons. Across 11 playoff starts, Rooney holds a .930 save percentage and 1.65 goals-against average.
Ann-Renée Desbiens is tied with Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips for the most playoff overtime losses of any PWHL netminder with four. It’s the first game in the 2025-26 season the Canadian Olympic goaltender has given up more than four goals after leading the league in GAA (1.11) and SV% (.955) this season.
Britta Curl-Salemme received a major penalty and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head on Kaitlin Willoughby at 19:12 of the second period. Minnesota was the only team without a major penalty in 2025-26.
Six Frost players made their playoff debut: defenders Brooke Becker and Kendall Cooper, and forwards Peyton Anderson, Élizabeth Giguère, Abby Hustler, and Vanessa Upson.
Four Victoire players made their playoff debut: defender Gosling, and forwards Skylar Irving, Natálie Mlýnková, and Roque.
Jessica DiGirolamo returned to the Victoire lineup after missing the first game of her three-year PWHL career.
Natalie Buchbinder was scratched from the Frost lineup for the first time in three postseasons and is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THREE STARS
- Laura Stacey (MTL) 3G
- Jincy Roese (MIN) GWG
- Taylor Heise (MIN) 2A
NEXT GAME
Game 2: Tuesday, May 5 at Montréal at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
