Neal: Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney stands tall — and stands up for her teammates on defense

Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney sees it every practice and every game, how her defenders limit traffic in front of her so she can follow the puck. She sees them rarely out of position. She sees them handle scorers of all shapes and abilities.

She sees how they make her job easier.

“So they definitely give me confidence,” Rooney said. “They have my back as I have theirs.”

Rooney has even seen defender Lee Stecklein, who had three goals in 30 games during the regular season, explode for four goals in seven playoff games, including one during Saturday’s 2-1, triple-overtime thriller in Game 3 of the PWHL Finals at Xcel Energy Center.

“I see it firsthand in practice every day, so I’m not surprised,” Rooney said. “Very grateful that she’s on our team and I’m not going against her. So I’m happy for her.”

The Frost led the Professional Women’s Hockey League with 85 goals during the regular season. But if they can win one of the next two games, they will win their second consecutive Walter Cup because of their defensive work — both stopping goals and producing on the offensive end — in this series against Ottawa.

During the regular season, the Frost beat Ottawa by scores of 5-2, 5-0 and 3-0 and lost 1-0, 8-3 and 3-2. With razor-thin margins in the postseason, each game has been a battle of strategy, skill and poise.

Three games. All settled in overtime by 2-1 scores. Can’t get any tighter. There’s less space for teams to develop Grade-A scoring chances this time of year.

And that calls for the defense to be on point. On Saturday, Ottawa took a 1-0 lead at the 11-minute, 38-second mark of the first period when Emily Clark buried a loose puck near the right post. A tough one for Rooney, as the puck was bouncing through heavy traffic in front of the goal.

Stecklein’s goal, from the high slot, tied the game. That came after Klara Hymlarova, part of a fourth line that pestered the Charge all game, stole the puck in her end and streaked into Ottawa’s zone. She handed off to Claire Thompson, one of the Frost’s offensive defenders, who passed to Stecklein for the shot.

Stecklein (eight points) and Sophie Jaques (seven) are leading all skaters in postseason scoring. Thompson and Mellissa Channell-Watkins (five each) give the Frost the top four scoring defenders in the postseason.

“Everyone plays five [players] low around the net,” Frost coach Ken Klee said. “And when your defense is chipping into the offense, I think it really helps.”

Klee also has excellent options between the pipes, as Nicole Hensley started 11 games during the regular season and has started three of the Frost’s seven postseason games.

As the Frost hunted for that elusive winning goal Saturday — a goal that came in the sixth period of play and nearly four hours after the opening faceoff — the defense stood tall. Rooney was required to make just nine saves over the first two periods.

More was required of Rooney later in the game, as Ottawa had 21 shots on goal in the three overtime periods. When the Charge picked things up offensively, Rooney made several composed saves, and the crowd crooned her name following each stop. One of her best came with 1:56 left in the second overtime when her kick save stopped Tereza Vanisova in front of the crease.

The announced crowd of 8,098 should sing the praises of the players in front of Rooney as well. They will have that chance Monday, when Game 4 will be played.

One more victory, and the Frost will have won the first two Walter Cups in PWHL history. The have that opportunity after winning one of the longest games in the league’s brief existence. The Frost’s past four playoff games have all been overtime victories. And they have played six OT games over the two postseasons.

On Saturday, they consumed applesauce and goldfish crackers to keep their energy up as the game remained deadlocked. Moments after Katy Knoll scored the game winner in the 90th minute — after Hymlarova’s shot struck her and fell to her feet — the fare changed to pizza and yogurt.

Another victory, and they will be downing other things as they celebrate a championship. A title in which the blue-liners will have contributed significantly to.