Toronto Sceptres falls to the Minnesota Frost in shootout, 4-3

SAINT PAUL, MN – Claire Thompson celebrated her 27th birthday by spearheading the Minnesota Frost to a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory against the Toronto Sceptres on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota defender tallied two goals and an assist in regulation before clinching the shootout winner, propelling the Frost to first place in the standings with 25 points, two points ahead of Montréal, heading into the International Break.

Five of the game’s six goals were scored on the power play, including Michela Cava’s opening goal for Minnesota early in the first period. The teams alternated scoring throughout the contest, with Toronto goals from Sarah Nurse, Jesse Compher, and Renata Fast tying the game in the first period and twice in the third. All three Sceptres goal scorers recorded multi-point performances, led by Fast with a career-high three points. Taylor Heise contributed two assists for the Frost, marking her second consecutive multi-point game. Maddie Rooney made 24 saves and is now tied for the most wins in the league with six. Rookie Raygan Kirk stopped 26 shots in the loss.

QUOTES

Toronto forward Jesse Compher on the team’s resilience: “I think we talked about it a little bit in the locker room. Obviously, they scored first, we answered back. It kind of happened for all three of their goals, so I think we came back after all three of their goals and just competed and put ourselves in a good position to come back and win that hockey game, so we were proud of that.”

Sceptres Head Coach Troy Ryan on his team’s performance: “Bit of a sloppy start for us. Our puck management wasn’t good, but as Compher said, showed some character to fight back and find ways to tie it back up after goals against. Obviously liked the power play as well; finding ways to score some goals on the power play is going to be key to our success moving forward.”

NOTABLES

• The five power play goals scored between the two teams is the most in a single game in PWHL history. The previous record was four in a game between Montréal (3) and Minnesota (1) on April 18, 2024.
• Toronto scored three power play goals for the first time in team history, moving their efficiency from fifth (18.2%) to second (24.3%) in overall power play percentage.
• Minnesota scored two power play goals for the second time this season, increasing their season conversion rate from 18.4% to 20.9%, maintaining their fourth overall ranking.
• Toronto became the first team this season to erase three different one-goal deficits. The only other time in PWHL history this occurred was last season when Minnesota mounted three comebacks against Toronto before falling 4-3 in overtime on February 27, 2024.
• Claire Thompson recorded her first career multi-goal game and third career multi-point game. The power play goal was the first of her career, followed by the only even-strength goal of the game. She is tied for first in league scoring with teammates Kendall Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise. Thompson’s 11 assists lead the PWHL.
• Michela Cava set a new career-high for both goals (6) and points (9) through 15 games, entering the break on a two-game point streak (1G, 2A).
• Taylor Heise has set new career highs for both assists (10) and points (14) through 15 games.
• Renata Fast recorded her first three-point game of her PWHL career and reclaims her team lead in points with 11 (1G, 10A) in 13 games.
• Sarah Nurse scored for the second straight game with her league-leading third power play goal of the season.

SCORESHEET RECAP

Toronto: 1 – 0 – 2 – 0 – 3 Minnesota: 1 – 1 – 1 – 0 – 4

1st Period

1. Minnesota, Cava 6 (Thompson, Heise), 3:40 (PP)
2. Toronto, Nurse 5 (Watts, Fast), 13:04 (PP)

2nd Period

3. Minnesota, Thompson 2 (Heise, McQuigge), 8:50 (PP)

3rd Period

4. Toronto, Compher 4 (Nurse, Fast), 4:12 (PP)
5. Minnesota, Thompson 3, 10:21
6. Toronto, Fast 1 (Compher, Miller), 11:55 (PP)

Shootout Toronto 1 (Nurse G, others NG), Minnesota 2 (Curl-Salemme G, Thompson G, others NG)

Shots on Goal: Toronto 27, Minnesota 30 Power Play Opportunities: Toronto 3/4, Minnesota 2/5 Goalies: Toronto, Kirk (29 shots-26 saves), Minnesota, Rooney (27 shots-24 saves) Attendance: 4,540

THREE STARS

1. Claire Thompson (MIN) 2G, 1A
2. Maddie Rooney (MIN) 24/27 SV
3. Renata Fast (TOR) 1G, 2A

STANDINGS

Minnesota: 25 PTS – 1st Place Toronto: 15 PTS – 5th Place (Tied)

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

Toronto: Thursday, January 30 at Montréal at 7 p.m. ET

Minnesota: Tuesday, February 11 at Toronto at 7 p.m. ET