Thursday, May 22, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. ET | The Arena at TD Place
WATCH LIVE: TSN 5, TSN.ca, TSN App, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International), more below.
Kenzie Lalonde (Play-by-Play), Cheryl Pounder (Analyst), Rob Pizzo (Reporter), Daniella Ponticelli (Panel Host), Becky Kellar (Panel Analyst), Alexis Pearson (Panel Analyst);
FR: RDS 2, RDS.ca, RDS App with Claudine Douville (Play-by-Play), Isabelle Leclaire (Analyst), Catherine Savoie (Reporter), Andrée-Anne Barbeau (Studio Host), Karell Émard (Studio Analyst)
MINNESOTA FROST (4)
Top Scorer: Taylor Heise – 5 GP, 1-6-7 PTS
Goalie: Nicole Hensley, 1-2, 2.43 GAA, .906 SV%
Playoff Stats: PP 5/11 (45.5%), PK 6/8 (75%)
OTTAWA CHARGE (3)
Top Scorer: Emily Clark – 5 GP, 2-2-4 PTS
Goalie: Gwyneth Philips, 4-1, 1.11 GAA, .957 SV%
Playoff Stats: PP 1/11 (9.1%), PK 9/11 (81.8%)
2025 PWHL FINALS: OTTAWA LEADS BEST-OF-FIVE SERIES 1-0
Game 1 at OTT: 2-1 OTT (OT) | Game 2 - May 22 at OTT | Game 3 - May 24 at MIN | Game 4 - May 26 at MIN | Game 5 - May 28 at OTT
2024-25 SEASON SERIES: SERIES TIED 9-9 IN POINTS (MINNESOTA WON 10-5 IN 2024)
Ottawa Home Games: Feb. 13: 8-3 OTT | Mar. 11: 3-2 OTT: Apr. 30: 3-0 MIN
Minnesota Home Games: Dec. 19: 5-2 MIN | Jan. 21: 1-0 OTT | Mar. 7 at RALEIGH: 5-0 MIN
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
This is Minnesota’s fourth playoff series all-time and the fourth time the team has lost Game 1 of the series. The Frost have come back to win each of the previous three. They are 0-4 in Game 1 all-time but 9-2 in all other playoff games.
Klára Hymlárová is the 12th different player to score a goal for the Frost this postseason, most in the PWHL. During the regular season, the Frost and Charge tied for the PWHL lead in different goal scorers (19). In last year’s playoffs, Minnesota had 11 players with a goal.
Minnesota went 0-for-2 on the power play in Tuesday’s game which marked the first time this postseason they did not convert with a player advantage. The Frost scored a PPG in each of their first three games against the Sceptres and did not have a power play opportunity in Game 4 of the series.
Including Tuesday, the Frost have outshot the Charge in six of seven games this season. The lone exception was Ottawa’s 8-3 win on Feb. 13 when they tied with 26 shots each. Those 26 shots by Ottawa represent their highest total in seven games, while Minnesota has recorded 26 shots or more in five of the seven games, including Game 1. The Frost outshot opponents in 18 games during the regular season, most in the PWHL.
There were two overtime decisions of importance Tuesday night for Frost Head Coach Ken Klee. His son David and the Muskegon Lumberjacks beat the Waterloo Blackhawks 3-2 in OT to win their first USHL Clark Cup title. David Klee is a San Jose Sharks pick committed to the University of North Dakota.
Frost Assistant Coach Mira Jalosuo reunited with her former University of Minnesota teammate Megan Bozek who is covering the PWHL Finals for TSN. Their connection dates back to 2009 when they arrived on campus and roomed together, then shared four NCAA seasons with back-to-back National Championships in 2012 and 2013.
Ottawa is a perfect 3-0 at TD Place during the playoffs, a contrast from the regular season where the Charge’s six wins in 13 games at their primary venue tied Minnesota for fourth-most in the PWHL, ahead of only New York (4).
All five of Ottawa’s playoff games this season have been decided by exactly one goal. It is the longest streak of one-goal games within a single playoffs by a PWHL team all-time. In this year’s regular season, no team had a streak longer than four.
Emily Clark is the first player in PWHL history with game-winning goals in back-to-back playoff games. It matches her total of GWG from her entire regular-season career (both this season: Jan. 7 at NY and Feb. 22 vs. MTL).
Rebecca Leslie has scored a goal in back-to-back games for the first time in her PWHL career. After one goal in the regular season, she is the first player to score more postseason goals than regular-season goals so far this season (among the 107 PWHL skaters with at least one goal in the regular season). All three of her season’s tallies have been scored in front of her hometown fans.
Gwyneth Philips has posted a .950 or better save percentage in three straight games. The only longer streak in PWHL postseason history was by Maddie Rooney last year in four straight games against Toronto. Philips has posted a .925 or better save percentage in 10 straight games dating back to the regular season and has been recognized as one of the game’s ‘3 Stars’ for every playoff performance to date.
Kateřina Mrázová has been battling injuries all season and left Tuesday’s game midway through the third period with a lower body injury. The Czech forward is still looking to find the scoresheet in the playoffs after her overtime heroics in the final game of the regular season in Toronto secured Ottawa’s first-ever playoff berth.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“Even though we’ve been in this spot before and have been able to come back, that doesn’t guarantee anything. Ottawa demonstrated in Game 1 that they are a skilled and resilient group. We will need our best game to try and even the series.” - Frost Head Coach Ken Klee
“I was proud of our group yesterday. It wasn't our best game, but we stuck with it. And that's what's so great about this group. We don't get frustrated with each other. We're always trying to find solutions. So in between periods, we're talking about the power play. We're talking about the penalty kill and things that we can tweak and adjust. It’s a group that always wants to get better. So, I think that's what really helped us yesterday.” - Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque
THURSDAY’S GAME: The 2025 PWHL Finals, presented by Scotiabank, continues in Ottawa where the Charge will aim to take command of the series against the defending Walter Cup champion Frost. The Charge flag waves proudly in front of City Hall following a ceremony with Emerance Maschmeyer and Jincy Roese prior to Game 1. To set the tone for Game 2, Scotiabank Rally Towels will be on all seats for fans at TD Place. Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark, who got fans fired up by waving his rally towel during the team’s playoff debut, is expected back in attendance for Game 2. While the forecasted rain will close the popular “Electric Avenue” outdoor party, the energy inside TD Place will continue with drum lines and trumpeters to welcome fans at the gates, out on the concourse and inside the arena bowl. A band will be playing throughout the concourse in between periods, and there will be facepainting inside Gate 2. CTV will broadcast live from 5 to 6 p.m. near the Gate 2 merchandise location. Concourse activations include Canadian Tire’s ‘My Team. My Sign’ outside of Section 25 and a Midea kiosk shooting game between Gate 1 and 2. Fans can also look forward to Midea’s ‘Ultimate Shootout’ during the second intermission, plus Air Canada’s ‘Dance Cam’, SharkNinja’s ‘Hair Flip Confidence Cam’, Factor Meals’ ‘Bento Shuffle’, Canadian Tire’s ‘My Team. My Sign’, Intuit QuickBooks’ ‘Fan of the Game’, Hard Rock’s ‘Jam Cam’, and Scotiabank’s ‘Seat Upgrade’ during TV timeouts.
In addition to live broadcast coverage exclusively on TSN and RDS in Canada, today’s game will be available to fans in the U.S. on FanDuel Sports Network North, FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest, FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin Extra, MSG Networks, on various stations distributed in partnership with Gray Media (Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network, Palmetto Sports Network, Tennessee Valley Sports & Entertainment Network, Matrix Midwest, The Wax Sports), Scripps Sports (Boise, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Twin Falls and West Palm Beach), the Sinclair Broadcast Group (Baltimore, Portland, Seattle), and globally on YouTube outside of Canada, Czechia and Slovakia. Internationally, the game will be distributed by NOVA Prime in Czechia and Slovakia.