Kelly Pannek became the first PWHL player to earn 30 points in a season, and was quickly joined by teammate Taylor Heise, but the Minnesota Frost lost their penultimate regular-season game to Seattle, 5-4, in front of 11,882 fans at Climate Pledge Arena late Wednesday.
The Frost, who have won the PWHL’s only two championships, already were locked into the third of four postseason spots when the playoffs begin next week.
Pannek, a wing from Plymouth, had a goal and assist to give her a league-leading 32 points. Heise, a center from Lake City, Minn., scored a pair of goals, the second a game-tying shot that gave her 30 points this season, and 65 for her career — one point away from Montréal captain Marie-Philip Poulin’s league-high benchmark.
Goaltender Nicole Hensley stopped 23 shots for Minnesota, while Seattle rookie Hannah Murphy stopped 38 of 42 shots to earn the victory.
“For us, we’re all just about building right now, about trying to do little things well, and obviously we got a little bit loose with our game,” Frost coach Ken Klee said. “I thought we had a good push. It was a good hockey game. Obviously, they’re pushing to try to score goals and trying to do well, also.”
Minnesota is scheduled to close the regular season on Saturday at Vancouver.
“Going into playoffs, it’s the confidence, it’s having your teammates’ backs, and just going there and relentlessly playing,” said Heise, a key player on both of Minnesota’s Walter Cup championships. “Playoffs is amazing. It is phenomenal in the PWHL, and we’re just really excited, especially to have at least one home game and getting our fans in.”
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on the team’s overall performance and game result: “It gave us the opportunity to work on our six-on-five a little bit and had two groups get a few shifts out of it.
“For us, we’re all just about building right now – about trying to do little things well – and obviously we got a little bit loose with our game, and I thought we had a good push. It was a good hockey game. Obviously, they’re pushing to try to score goals and trying to do well also.”
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