ST. PAUL– The Montréal Victoire scored two goals in a span of 24 seconds to stun the Minnesota Frost and earn a 2-1 win on Thursday night at Grand Casino Arena in Game 3 of the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs. Montréal’s first-ever lead in a semifinal series, 2-1, puts them one win away from their first-ever finals and has the two-time defending champions facing elimination for the first time since the 2024 postseason.
Frost defender Sidney Morin struck first at 3:22 of the first period, finishing a feed from Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein, with a five-hole shot to put Minnesota up 1-0. Former Frost defender Maggie Flaherty tied the game in the second period when she collected her own rebound and scored on a wraparound at 4:36. Then, at the 5-minute mark, Hayley Scamurra—who assisted Flaherty’s goal—stole the puck in the corner, skated out to the faceoff dot, then turned and fired top-shelf for the winner. Minnesota limited Montréal to just one shot on goal in the third period but couldn’t solve Ann-Renée Desbiens at the other end, with the Victoire netminder earning the win with 27 saves. The Frost had 17 shots blocked by the Victoire, including nine in the final frame, and the league’s best power play unit failed to capitalize on its seven opportunities, including three in the third period. Maddie Rooney stood tall despite the loss, turning away 17 of 19. The teams return to action tomorrow night for Game 4 of the series.
QUOTES
Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on the team’s defensive play: “I think we can be really proud of what we’ve brought this year and what we’ve been growing and developing, in terms of taking pride in keeping the puck out of our net. Certainly tonight, we had to play with some desperation there. We know that Minnesota is a highly offensive team, and in order to shut them down, we all have to be on the same page, and certainly, some desperation shot blocks come along with that.”
Victoire defender Maggie Flaherty on taking the delay of game penalty she was assessed at the end of the game: “You never want to toss it over the glass or take a penalty and put your team six on four. But our defense has been very strong this series and the whole season, so I had faith in my teammates that they could finish out those last 18 or 19 seconds, and they did. And it was a little nerve-wracking, but I had all the faith in the world in my teammates.”
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on his overall thoughts of the game: “It was a good hockey game, I thought, both ways. They scored goals in back-to-back shifts in about – it felt like – 30 seconds. All of a sudden, we blinked and we were up [1-0] then down 2-1, but I loved our resilience. I loved how hard we played. Obviously, our power play expects a lot of themselves, and I know they were disappointed and a little frustrated with not being able to capitalize, but we know it’s going to be a tight game. We had a great look at the end to try and tie it up, and it’s just one game. We’ve been here before. For us, we know it’s a long series, and we just have to bring our best tomorrow night.”
Frost forward Taylor Heise on the difference in the power play recently: “I think you go through ebbs and flows, and the amount of shots I had, one of them had to go in and that’s on me; I will take full responsibility for that. I do think just settling down and understanding it’s not a press situation, it’s more of a time to be loose. I think tomorrow’s a big pressure situation, but the more loose we can play, the better we are. I think we were number one [in the power play] in the regular season for a reason, and the two groups we have are dynamic. And I think the more we can come up tomorrow with an open mindset and realize it’s anyone’s game and just understand the power play is not a time to grip your stick hard, but just go out there and have fun.”
NOTABLES
Montréal won in regulation for the first time in 10 all-time playoff games, won on the road for the first time in four all-time playoff games, and lead a series for the first time in three postseason appearances. The Victoire have won all three games at Grand Casino Arena this season and six of eight all-time.
Minnesota lost the third game of a playoff series for the first time in three seasons (4-1) and suffered just their second loss in nine all-time playoff games at Grand Casino Arena (7-2). The last Frost loss at home in the playoffs was Game 4 of the inaugural season finals against Boston, 1-0 in double-overtime, snapping a streak of four straight playoff home wins. This was the first time in the last eight Frost playoff games the result was decided in regulation.
In PWHL playoff history, the team that wins Game 3 of a series tied 1-1 has gone on to win all four series. Minnesota was part of three of those occurrences, defeating Boston in five games following a 1-1 tie in the inaugural season finals, and Toronto and Ottawa each in four games last season. Montréal lost Game 3 of their 2025 semifinals to Ottawa and was eliminated in four games.
The Frost scored within the game’s first five minutes for the 11th time this season after tying Toronto for the league lead with 10 such instances in the regular season. The Victoire allowed only three goals in the first five minutes throughout the entire regular season.
The Victoire’s two goals in 24 seconds set a PWHL playoff record for the fastest two goals by a team.
Prior to tonight, Minnesota was undefeated in 12 games when leading after the first period, including their Game 1 victory. Montréal was 2-4 when trailing after the opening frame, with both wins earned when down by one, including a 4-3 shootout against Toronto on March 3 and a 3-1 regulation win against New York on March 28.
The Victoire carried just their fourth regulation lead in 10 all-time playoff games. They most recently held a lead for 53:01 in Game 2 against Ottawa on May 11, 2025, before ultimately relinquishing the two-goal lead and winning in overtime.
Minnesota’s offense has been limited to one goal in two games, the team’s lowest total since suffering consecutive shutout losses to Toronto to open the 2024 playoffs.
Montréal was held to one shot on goal in the third period for the first time in team history, the team’s lowest total in 94 games.
Maggie Flaherty, a native of Lakeville, MN, recorded her second goal and point in her 19th career postseason game and first as a member of the visiting team at Grand Casino Arena. The two-time Walter Cup champion previously scored the game-winning goal for Minnesota on May 13, 2024, in Game 3 of their inaugural semifinal series against Toronto. She led the Victoire with four shots on goal tonight.
Hayley Scamurra notched her first-ever multi-point postseason game with a goal and an assist, doubling her career playoff production in a span of 24 seconds. All three of her career playoff points have been tallied against Minnesota, first scoring the opening goal in Game 2 of the 2025 semifinals for the Sceptres. The U.S. Olympic gold medalist had a career-high three multi-point performances in her first regular season with the Victoire, with three of her nine goals counting as game-winners, including tonight.
Ann-Renée Desbiens earned her second consecutive playoff win, double her lone victory across Montréal’s first two playoff seasons. She recorded her 10th game of the season with at least 25 saves, winning seven such games, and has now held the Frost to one goal in 164:02. Her goals-against average of 1.58 and save percentage of .937 rank third and second, respectively, among playoff goaltenders.
Sidney Morin recorded her second goal in three games of the series, following her shorthanded tally in Game 1, after playing 30 regular-season games without a goal for the Frost. Her two playoff points match the two assists she recorded in eight games during the inaugural playoffs with Boston. The defender had previously been on the winning side of all three games in overtime when she finds the scoresheet.
Kendall Coyne Schofield reached double digit points for her postseason career with a primary helper, making her the fifth player to achieve the feat in league history. The Minnesota captain is halfway to her career-high postseason output of four points, tallied in consecutive Walter Cup campaigns (2G, 2A in 2025 and 1G, 3A in 2025).
Lee Stecklein became the PWHL’s new postseason leader for scoring among defenders with her 13th point in 21 career games (4G, 9A), surpassing former Frost Sophie Jaques who had 12 points in 18 games (4G, 8A). The Frost alternate captain has 10 assists in her last 10 games since Apr. 1.
Maddie Rooney suffered her second-straight postseason loss and just her fourth in 13 career playoff starts. She has allowed two or fewer goals against in nine of her career postseason starts, with a record of 6-3 in such games. Tonight marked the first time she has faced fewer than 20 shots in the postseason since May 15, 2024 in the Frost’s 1-0 double-overtime win over Toronto in Game 3.
Grace Zumwinkle led all skaters with five shots on goal after finishing second on the Frost during the regular season with 82 in 29 games.
Kelly Pannek now leads the playoffs with 13 shots on goal after producing four tonight, and 44 faceoff wins after going 12-for-23 in the contest.
Britta Curl-Salemme returned from her one-game suspension and went 11-for-16 in the faceoff circle.
Natalie Buchbinder was left off the Frost lineup for a third straight game, listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THREE STARS
1. Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 27/28 SV
2. Hayley Scamurra (MTL) 1G, 1A
3. Sidney Morin (MIN) 1G
NEXT GAME
Game 4: Friday, May 8 at Minnesota at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT
