PANNEK\u2019S\u00a0FOUR\u00a0POINTS\u00a0LEADS\u00a0MINNESOTA TO\u00a06-5\u00a0WIN OVER VANCOUVER\u00a0AS FROST CLINCH\u00a0PLAYOFF BERTH\u00a0<\/p>\n
Highlights and Press Conferences available on\u202fVancouver\u202f<\/a>and\u00a0Minnesota<\/a>\u202fYouTube\u00a0channels\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n ST. PAUL, MN\u202f(April\u00a04, 2026) \u2013\u202fThe Minnesota Frost are once again bound for the\u00a0PWHL\u00a0Walter\u00a0Cup Playoffs, as Kelly\u00a0Pannek\u00a0recorded two goals and two assists in a 6-5 win over Vancouver in a back-and-forth contest at Grand Casino Arena in front of 8,392 fans on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0Pannek\u2019s\u00a0big afternoon\u00a0tied a\u00a0PWHL single-game\u00a0points\u00a0record\u00a0and\u00a0both\u00a0opened and closed the scoring for Minnesota, as the league\u2019s points leader factored in the team\u2019s first two and last two goals. Teammate Lee Stecklein added a career-high three assists, while Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques \u2014 both former Frost players \u2014 led Vancouver offensively with three points each.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n The Goldeneyes struck first just 1:18 into the game, when Sarah Nurse tipped in a point shot from Jaques to make it 1-0. Minnesota responded with goals from Grace\u00a0Zumwinkle\u00a0and Katy Knoll, with\u00a0Pannek\u00a0assisting\u00a0on both to give the Frost a 2-1 lead.\u00a0Vancouver answered quickly as\u00a0Tereza\u00a0Vani\u0161ov\u00e1\u00a0tied the game just seven seconds later, followed by Jaques\u2019 seventh goal of the season, a power play marker, part of a three-goal burst in 40 seconds that gave the Goldeneyes a 3-2 lead\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0five-goal opening period.\u00a0Jenn Gardiner extended Vancouver\u2019s\u00a0lead\u00a0to 4-2 just 3:30 into the second, with Jaques recording her third point of the game and Thompson adding her second assist. Minnesota responded again, as Mae\u00a0Batherson\u00a0and Taylor Heise scored 1:18 apart midway through the frame to even the score at 4-4.\u00a0Pannek\u00a0took over in the third, scoring twice on the\u00a0power play to\u00a0move\u00a0into sole possession of first in PWHL scoring with 28 points, one shy of the single-season record.\u00a0Vancouver pulled within one off an Izzy Daniel deflection with 53 seconds\u00a0remaining, but the Frost held on for the 6-5 victory to secure three points and their third straight playoff appearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nicole Hensley made 20 saves to earn her\u00a0seventh\u00a0win of the season, while Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 29 shots in the loss.\u202fWith the regulation victory, the back-to-back Walter Cup champion Frost became the third team to clinch a postseason berth, joining Boston and Montr\u00e9al. The Goldeneyes\u00a0remain\u00a0in seventh place, eight points out of a playoff spot, with five games\u00a0remaining.\u00a0These two teams will clash again on the final day of the regular season,\u00a0April 25, at\u00a0Pacific Coliseum.\u00a0\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n QUOTES\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Head Coach\u00a0Ken Klee\u00a0on clinching with five games\u00a0remaining:\u00a0\u201cIn the beginning of the year, we talk about getting points, right?\u00a0It’s\u00a0a huge accomplishment for our whole group to be able to say that\u00a0we’re\u00a0going to be in the Walter Cup Playoffs again and giving ourselves a chance.\u00a0It’s\u00a0nicer with five games left, that way we can clean up some\u00a0small details.\u00a0It’s\u00a0not just a switch you turn, so we know\u00a0we’ve\u00a0got to keep building, keep playing well.\u00a0We did some really good things tonight.\u00a0We did some things that\u00a0weren’t\u00a0so good, and they obviously capitalized on our opportunities as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Frost Alternate Captain\u00a0Kelly\u00a0Pannek\u00a0on the high-scoring game:\u00a0\u201cI think\u00a0it’s\u00a0really entertaining,\u00a0it’s\u00a0high-paced. That tends to be the style of games that [the Goldeneyes] play in and they want their opponents to play in. I thought we did\u00a0a nice job, especially in the second half of the game, getting back to our style and controlling the play for a good majority of it.\u00a0It’s\u00a0always fun to play in front of our home fans. Another great crowd and they\u00a0definitely got\u00a0their\u00a0money’s\u00a0worth with that one. Like [Coach Ken Klee] said,\u00a0there’s\u00a0definitely some\u00a0things\u00a0we’d\u00a0like to tighten up, but\u00a0ultimately getting\u00a0the win is\u00a0what’s\u00a0so important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vancouver Head Coach\u00a0Brian Idalski\u00a0on\u00a0his team\u2019s\u00a0performance and\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0tying the game\u00a04-4 in the second:\u00a0\u201cOur team competed and played hard. We gave ourselves opportunities to win a hockey game.\u00a0Disappointing\u00a0that we\u00a0didn’t\u00a0get it done. I thought [Minnesota] did\u00a0a nice job\u00a0of counterattacking in the\u00a0second,\u00a0we\u00a0kind of got\u00a0hemmed in there. They\u00a0built\u00a0some momentum\u00a0off of\u00a0that and were able to capitalize,\u00a0and that was\u00a0kind of the\u00a0difference in the second.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Goldeneyes defender\u00a0Sophie Jaques\u00a0on the three goals she was involved in: \u201cA point of emphasis in the o-zone is definitely moving it low to high and stretching out their zones, so just being able to get pucks on net, we did a better job of getting some net front presence today.\u00a0Nurse’s\u00a0goal was a great tip\u00a0with\u00a0her being there. Then,\u00a0on\u00a0the power play, Mannon\u00a0[McMahon]\u00a0was a great\u00a0net-front\u00a0presence there for that one. Jenn\u00a0[Gardiner]\u00a0just always has a lot of speed and knows how to find the\u00a0back\u00a0door, so it was\u00a0nice way\u00a0to get to feed the puck over to her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n NOTABLES\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota joins\u00a0Montr\u00e9al as the only two teams to\u00a0so far clinch a playoff berth\u00a0in all three seasons\u00a0(Boston\u00a0missed playoffs last season).\u00a0With five games\u00a0remaining\u00a0in their schedule, this is the earliest the Frost have ever\u00a0locked up a playoff spot, previously\u00a0doing so on the final\u00a0day of the\u00a0inaugural season and 2024-25\u00a0campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Frost have set a new team record for points in a season with\u00a046\u00a0in 25 games, surpassing the 44\u00a0recorded in\u00a030\u00a0games in 2024-25\u00a0with a record\u00a0of 10-5-4-11.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today\u2019s game\u00a0tied the\u00a0PWHL record\u00a0for\u00a0most\u00a0goals\u00a0by both teams,\u00a0matching the 11 scored\u00a0between\u00a0Ottawa (8)\u00a0and Minnesota (3)\u00a0last\u00a0season on\u00a0Feb. 13, 2025.\u00a0Before today, the highest scoring game of the season\u00a0featured 10 goals\u00a0between\u00a0Seattle (6) and Toronto (4) on Jan.\u00a020.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota tied a season high with six goals, marking the third time\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0reached that total in a game\u00a0(also\u00a0Jan.\u00a011 and Jan. 25).\u00a0Vancouver also matched its season high with five goals, doing so for the second time this season\u00a0(also\u00a0Jan. 22).\u00a0<\/p>\n Vancouver scored more goals\u00a0against Minnesota\u00a0today than they have\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0first three games of the season series,\u00a0previously\u00a0outscored 9-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Goldeneyes lost for the first time this season when scoring the game\u2019s\u00a0first goal,\u00a0entering today\u2019s\u00a0game with a perfect\u00a05-0-0-0\u00a0record when\u00a0striking first.\u00a0The Frost earned just their\u00a0second win of the season when\u00a0surrendering the first goal,\u00a0now with a record of\u00a02-0-2-5 in such games.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Frost\u00a0are now up to\u00a029 first\u00a0period goals this season,\u00a010 more than\u00a0the\u00a0next\u00a0highest team (Boston, 19).\u00a0The Goldeneyes scored\u00a0three\u00a0first period goals for the third\u00a0time this season,\u00a0having\u00a0entered the game\u00a0with\u00a0a league-low\u00a012\u00a0scored in the opening frame,\u00a0and now rank sixth with 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota became the first team\u00a0this season to\u00a0score three power play goals in a game,\u00a0capitalizing on all three\u00a0opportunities and\u00a0tying a\u00a0team\u00a0record.\u00a0The\u00a0Frost\u2019s 17 goals on the player advantage are a new team record\u00a0as they lead the league with a\u00a023.6%\u00a0power play success\u00a0rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kelly\u00a0Pannek\u00a0scored her league-leading 13th\u00a0and 14th\u00a0goals of the season\u00a0and added her\u00a013th\u00a0and 14th\u00a0assists\u00a0to\u00a0tie\u00a0a PWHL record with four points in the contest.\u00a0The\u00a0Frost alternate captain\u00a0leads the league in scoring with\u00a0a new single-season team record for points\u00a0(28), surpassing the previous mark of 24 she shared with\u00a0captain\u00a0Kendall Coyne Schofield\u00a0(2024-25)\u00a0and sits just one point away from tying the PWHL single-season points\u00a0record, held by Sarah\u00a0Fillier\u00a0(NY) and Hilary Knight (with Boston) in 2024-25.\u00a0She\u00a0has recorded points in eight of her last nine contests and 13 of her last 15\u00a0and led today\u2019s game with 21 faceoff wins on 31 attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taylor Heise\u00a0extended her goal streak to three straight games\u00a0with a game-high six shots on goal\u00a0and has now scored in seven of her last nine contests. With her\u00a016th\u00a0assist\u00a0on the season, she ties the PWHL\u00a0single-season\u00a0assist\u00a0record in just her 25th game of the season,\u00a0matching the marks\u00a0set by Renata Fast (TOR) and\u00a0Fillier\u00a0in 2024-25, both achieved in 30 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Grace\u00a0Zumwinkle\u00a0recorded her second straight two-point game (3G, 1A) and moved into a tie for second in\u00a0the\u00a0PWHL\u00a0with 12\u00a0goals\u00a0along\u00a0with\u00a0Ottawa\u2019s Rebecca Leslie.\u00a0With a dozen tallies in 25 games, the forward set a new career-high, surpassing her\u00a0previous\u00a0best of 11\u00a0in\u00a024 games during\u00a0the\u00a0PWHL\u2019s inaugural season.\u00a0Her 19 points on the season ties her career high, also set in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee Stecklein\u00a0recorded\u00a0three\u00a0assists\u00a0in a game\u00a0for\u00a0the first time in her\u00a0PWHL career\u00a0in\u00a0her\u00a0first multi-point performance of the season.\u00a0The\u00a0Frost alternate captain\u00a0has points in a season-high three straight games and has set a new high career high\u00a0with 10\u00a0points\u00a0(1G,\u00a09A)\u00a0through 23 games, surpassing her\u00a0previous\u00a0high mark of nine, set last season in 30 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sophie Jaques\u00a0tied\u00a0a career high with three points\u00a0in her second multi-point game of the season.\u00a0The Goldeneyes defender\u00a0previously\u00a0reached the mark twice as a member of the Frost (3A vs.\u00a0Montr\u00e9al, April 18, 2024; 2G, 1A vs. Boston, May 3, 2025).\u00a0She\u00a0co-leads Vancouver\u00a0with\u00a0Izzy Daniel\u00a0with\u00a0seven\u00a0goals,\u00a0matching her career high,\u00a0and ranks second on the team with 13 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n Claire Thompson\u00a0recorded\u00a0three assists in a game for the first time since a four-point performance (1G, 3A) last season as a member of the Frost on Dec. 19, 2024. This was her second\u00a0multi-point game and first multi-assist\u00a0performance\u00a0as a member of the Goldeneyes. She\u00a0leads\u00a0the team\u00a0with\u00a015\u00a0points\u00a0while\u00a0her\u00a012\u00a0assists\u00a0co-leads\u00a0all PWHL defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coyne Schofield\u00a0recorded her second multi-point game in three contests since returning from LTIR on March 29. The Frost captain tallied two assists to reach 20 points (10G, 10A) in 18 games this season, marking her second straight 20-point campaign. Her career high\u00a0remains\u00a024 points (12G, 12A) in 30 games in 2024-25.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kendall Cooper\u00a0recorded her third multi-assist game of the season and now has 14 assists, leading all\u00a0rookie\u00a0skaters and all defenders in the category. With 15 points on the season, she ranks third in rookie scoring and third among all players in assists. The helpers snapped a season-high five-game pointless drought.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sarah Nurse\u00a0snapped a season-high five-game goalless drought. Despite missing 11 games, she ranks third on the Goldeneyes in goals (6) and is tied for third in points (11).\u00a0Her goal at 1:18\u00a0is the\u00a0fastest in team history\u00a0and tied\u00a0for the sixth\u00a0quickest\u00a0from puck drop\u00a0leaguewide.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel\u00a0scored her seventh goal of the season,\u00a0and\u00a0second against her home state team,\u00a0and\u00a0now sits tied for the team lead with\u00a0Jaques. The\u00a0second-year\u00a0forward\u00a0from\u00a0Minneapolis\u00a0now\u00a0has\u00a010\u00a0points on the season, reaching double\u00a0figures\u00a0for the first time in her career,\u00a0after recording seven points (2G, 5A) in her rookie season as a member of Toronto.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Tereza\u00a0Vani\u0161ov\u00e1\u00a0scored her third goal of the season to reach 11 points in 25 games, while\u00a0Jenn\u00a0Gardiner\u00a0added her fourth of the campaign to match her with 11 points, as the\u00a0two sit\u00a0tied for third in team scoring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Hannah Miller\u00a0(2A) reached double digit points for the third straight season\u00a0with her second multi-point\u00a0effort as Goldeneye, also ranking third in team scoring\u00a0with 11 points (3G, 8A).\u00a0Her next\u00a0point\u00a0will be the\u00a050th\u00a0of\u00a0her career, currently with\u00a049 (20G, 29A) in\u00a077\u00a0games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Katy Knoll\u00a0recorded her first point since a two-goal game on Jan. 25, snapping a 10-game pointless streak. The Frost forward is enjoying a career-best season with seven goals in 25 games, despite still searching for her first assist, after recording two points (1G, 1A) in 21 games last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mae\u00a0Batherson\u00a0snapped a 14-game goalless drought with her third tally of the season. The defender now has 12 points in 25 games, quadrupling her output from last season, also in 25 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jincy Roese\u00a0recorded her first point with the Frost in just her second game since being\u00a0acquired\u00a0via trade from New York on Mar. 30. The assist snapped a seven-game pointless drought for the defender.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mannon McMahon\u00a0tallied her first assist since Dec. 16, when she was a member of the Ottawa Charge, tallied against Vancouver, snapping a 15-game drought. The Maple Grove, MN, native has recorded all four of her points with the Goldeneyes in the last five games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nicole Hensley\u00a0has\u00a0recorded\u00a0exactly\u00a0seven wins in\u00a0each of the first\u00a0three PWHL seasons,\u00a0doing so in\u00a0her\u00a011th\u00a0start of the\u00a02025-26 campaign.\u00a0Her five goals allowed\u00a0is\u00a0the most\u00a0of the\u00a0season and tied for most in her career (also May 4, 2024).\u00a0<\/p>\n Emerance Maschmeyer\u00a0surrendered six\u00a0goals for the\u00a0first time in her\u00a056-game PWHL career.\u00a0Her .923 save percentage is still\u00a0tied\u00a0for fourth-best in the\u00a0league.\u00a0<\/p>\n Natalie Buchbinder\u00a0was scratched from the Frost\u00a0blue line\u00a0for the third\u00a0straight game with an upper-body injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n THREE STARS \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n 1.\u202fKelly\u00a0Pannek\u00a0(MIN) 2G,\u00a02A\u00a0 STANDINGS\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota:\u202f46\u202fPTS (12-3-4-6)\u00a0\u2013\u202f3rd\u202fPlace\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Vancouver:\u202f27\u202fPTS (7-1-4-13) \u2013\u202f7th\u202fPlace\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n UPCOMING SCHEDULES\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Vancouver:\u00a0Tuesday, April\u00a07\u00a0vs.\u00a0Boston\u00a0at\u00a06:30 p.m. PT \u2013 Takeover Tour Edmonton\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota:\u00a0Saturday, April 11 vs.\u00a0New York\u00a0at\u00a012\u00a0p.m.\u00a0CT\u202f\/1 p.m. ET\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PANNEK\u2019S\u00a0FOUR\u00a0POINTS\u00a0LEADS\u00a0MINNESOTA TO\u00a06-5\u00a0WIN OVER VANCOUVER\u00a0AS FROST CLINCH\u00a0PLAYOFF BERTH\u00a0 Highlights and Press Conferences available on\u202fVancouver\u202fand\u00a0Minnesota\u202fYouTube\u00a0channels\u202f\u202f\u00a0 ST. PAUL, MN\u202f(April\u00a04, 2026) \u2013\u202fThe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-582758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2.\u202fLee Stecklein (MIN)\u00a03A\u00a0
3.\u202fTaylor Heise\u00a0(MIN) 1G, 1A\u00a0<\/p>\n