A year ago, the yet-unnamed Frost lost their final five regular-season games and still made the playoffs and won the PWHL’s inaugural Walter Cup.
They remain four points behind Ottawa for the fourth and final playoff spot with two games to play. They are five points behind third-place Boston, whom they beat in last year’s PWHL finals.
They have been here before.
“Maybe next year we’ll find a way to not do that,” Frost forward Taylor Heise said. “It was in our sole possession, and it still is.”
With 10 players including Heise arriving back midweek from the IIHF world championship in the Czech Republic, the Frost dominated the first period. They outshot 17-6 a New York team that won all three games at Xcel Energy Center this season. They also failed to capitalize on New York’s five-minute major penalty for checking Katy Knoll from behind into the boards early in the second period.
The Sirens were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday even though they didn’t play. Their main motivation Sunday was to win and secure the PWHL’s top draft pick and prove they are no last-place team.
“They came out flying in the first, and we had to absorb that,” New York coach Greg Fargo said about the Frost. “If felt like the momentum started to shift in our favor a little more after that [major game-misconduct penalty]. A five-minute kill, a 5-on-3, those are pivotal moments if you can kill it. Your chances of coming out on the other end are strong, and that was the case today.”
Not long after that, Taylor Girard’s first goal of the season midway through the second period gave the Sirens the game’s first goal — and the only one they would need. New York added an empty-netter with 7.8 seconds left.
