Highlights and Press Conferences available on Vancouver and Minnesota YouTube channels
ST. PAUL, MN (April 4, 2026) – The Minnesota Frost are once again bound for the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, as Kelly Pannek recorded 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. Pannek’s big afternoon tied a PWHL single-game points record and both opened and closed the scoring for Minnesota, as the league’s points leader factored in the team’s first two and last two goals. Teammate Lee Stecklein added a career-high three assists, while Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques — both former Frost players — led Vancouver offensively with three points each.
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 Zumwinkle and Katy Knoll, with Pannek assisting on both to give the Frost a 2-1 lead. Vancouver answered quickly as Tereza Vanišová tied the game just seven seconds later, followed by Jaques’ 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 in a five-goal opening period. Jenn Gardiner extended Vancouver’s lead to 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 Batherson and Taylor Heise scored 1:18 apart midway through the frame to even the score at 4-4. Pannek took over in the third, scoring twice on the power play to move into sole possession of first in PWHL scoring with 28 points, one shy of the single-season record. Vancouver pulled within one off an Izzy Daniel deflection with 53 seconds remaining, but the Frost held on for the 6-5 victory to secure three points and their third straight playoff appearance.
Nicole Hensley made 20 saves to earn her seventh win of the season, while Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 29 shots in the loss. With the regulation victory, the back-to-back Walter Cup champion Frost became the third team to clinch a postseason berth, joining Boston and Montréal. The Goldeneyes remain in seventh place, eight points out of a playoff spot, with five games remaining. These two teams will clash again on the final day of the regular season, April 25, at Pacific Coliseum.
QUOTES
Head Coach Ken Klee on clinching with five games remaining: “In the beginning of the year, we talk about getting points, right? It's a huge accomplishment for our whole group to be able to say that we're going to be in the Walter Cup Playoffs again and giving ourselves a chance. It's nicer with five games left, that way we can clean up some small details. It's not just a switch you turn, so we know we've got to keep building, keep playing well. We did some really good things tonight. We did some things that weren't so good, and they obviously capitalized on our opportunities as well.”
Frost Alternate Captain Kelly Pannek on the high-scoring game: “I think it's really entertaining, it's high-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 a 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. It's always fun to play in front of our home fans. Another great crowd and they definitely got their money's worth with that one. Like [Coach Ken Klee] said, there's definitely some things we'd like to tighten up, but ultimately getting the win is what's so important.”
Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski on his team’s performance and Minnesota tying the game 4-4 in the second: “Our team competed and played hard. We gave ourselves opportunities to win a hockey game. Disappointing that we didn't get it done. I thought [Minnesota] did a nice job of counterattacking in the second, we kind of got hemmed in there. They built some momentum off of that and were able to capitalize, and that was kind of the difference in the second.”
Goldeneyes defender Sophie Jaques on the three goals she was involved in: “A 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. Nurse's goal was a great tip with her being there. Then, on the power play, Mannon [McMahon] was a great net-front presence there for that one. Jenn [Gardiner] just always has a lot of speed and knows how to find the back door, so it was nice way to get to feed the puck over to her.”
NOTABLES
Minnesota joins Montréal as the only two teams to so far clinch a playoff berth in all three seasons (Boston missed playoffs last season). With five games remaining in their schedule, this is the earliest the Frost have ever locked up a playoff spot, previously doing so on the final day of the inaugural season and 2024-25 campaign.
The Frost have set a new team record for points in a season with 46 in 25 games, surpassing the 44 recorded in 30 games in 2024-25 with a record of 10-5-4-11.
Today’s game tied the PWHL record for most goals by both teams, matching the 11 scored between Ottawa (8) and Minnesota (3) last season on Feb. 13, 2025. Before today, the highest scoring game of the season featured 10 goals between Seattle (6) and Toronto (4) on Jan. 20.
Minnesota tied a season high with six goals, marking the third time they’ve reached that total in a game (also Jan. 11 and Jan. 25). Vancouver also matched its season high with five goals, doing so for the second time this season (also Jan. 22).
Vancouver scored more goals against Minnesota today than they have in the first three games of the season series, previously outscored 9-3.
The Goldeneyes lost for the first time this season when scoring the game’s first goal, entering today’s game with a perfect 5-0-0-0 record when striking first. The Frost earned just their second win of the season when surrendering the first goal, now with a record of 2-0-2-5 in such games.
The Frost are now up to 29 first period goals this season, 10 more than the next highest team (Boston, 19). The Goldeneyes scored three first period goals for the third time this season, having entered the game with a league-low 12 scored in the opening frame, and now rank sixth with 15.
Minnesota became the first team this season to score three power play goals in a game, capitalizing on all three opportunities and tying a team record. The Frost’s 17 goals on the player advantage are a new team record as they lead the league with a 23.6% power play success rate.
Kelly Pannek scored her league-leading 13th and 14th goals of the season and added her 13th and 14th assists to tie a PWHL record with four points in the contest. The Frost alternate captain leads the league in scoring with a new single-season team record for points (28), surpassing the previous mark of 24 she shared with captain Kendall Coyne Schofield (2024-25) and sits just one point away from tying the PWHL single-season points record, held by Sarah Fillier (NY) and Hilary Knight (with Boston) in 2024-25. She has recorded points in eight of her last nine contests and 13 of her last 15 and led today’s game with 21 faceoff wins on 31 attempts.
Taylor Heise extended her goal streak to three straight games with a game-high six shots on goal and has now scored in seven of her last nine contests. With her 16th assist on the season, she ties the PWHL single-season assist record in just her 25th game of the season, matching the marks set by Renata Fast (TOR) and Fillier in 2024-25, both achieved in 30 games.
Grace Zumwinkle recorded her second straight two-point game (3G, 1A) and moved into a tie for second in the PWHL with 12 goals along with Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie. With a dozen tallies in 25 games, the forward set a new career-high, surpassing her previous best of 11 in 24 games during the PWHL’s inaugural season. Her 19 points on the season ties her career high, also set in 2024.
Lee Stecklein recorded three assists in a game for the first time in her PWHL career in her first multi-point performance of the season. The Frost alternate captain has points in a season-high three straight games and has set a new high career high with 10 points (1G, 9A) through 23 games, surpassing her previous high mark of nine, set last season in 30 games.
Sophie Jaques tied a career high with three points in her second multi-point game of the season. The Goldeneyes defender previously reached the mark twice as a member of the Frost (3A vs. Montréal, April 18, 2024; 2G, 1A vs. Boston, May 3, 2025). She co-leads Vancouver with Izzy Daniel with seven goals, matching her career high, and ranks second on the team with 13 points.
Claire Thompson recorded three 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 multi-point game and first multi-assist performance as a member of the Goldeneyes. She leads the team with 15 points while her 12 assists co-leads all PWHL defenders.
Coyne Schofield recorded 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 remains 24 points (12G, 12A) in 30 games in 2024-25.
Kendall Cooper recorded her third multi-assist game of the season and now has 14 assists, leading all rookie skaters 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.
Sarah Nurse snapped 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). Her goal at 1:18 is the fastest in team history and tied for the sixth quickest from puck drop leaguewide.
Daniel scored her seventh goal of the season, and second against her home state team, and now sits tied for the team lead with Jaques. The second-year forward from Minneapolis now has 10 points on the season, reaching double figures for the first time in her career, after recording seven points (2G, 5A) in her rookie season as a member of Toronto.
Tereza Vanišová scored her third goal of the season to reach 11 points in 25 games, while Jenn Gardiner added her fourth of the campaign to match her with 11 points, as the two sit tied for third in team scoring.
Hannah Miller (2A) reached double digit points for the third straight season with her second multi-point effort as Goldeneye, also ranking third in team scoring with 11 points (3G, 8A). Her next point will be the 50th of her career, currently with 49 (20G, 29A) in 77 games.
Katy Knoll recorded 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.
Mae Batherson snapped 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.
Jincy Roese recorded her first point with the Frost in just her second game since being acquired via trade from New York on Mar. 30. The assist snapped a seven-game pointless drought for the defender.
Mannon McMahon tallied 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.
Nicole Hensley has recorded exactly seven wins in each of the first three PWHL seasons, doing so in her 11th start of the 2025-26 campaign. Her five goals allowed is the most of the season and tied for most in her career (also May 4, 2024).
Emerance Maschmeyer surrendered six goals for the first time in her 56-game PWHL career. Her .923 save percentage is still tied for fourth-best in the league.
Natalie Buchbinder was scratched from the Frost blue line for the third straight game with an upper-body injury.
THREE STARS
1. Kelly Pannek (MIN) 2G, 2A
2. Lee Stecklein (MIN) 3A
3. Taylor Heise (MIN) 1G, 1A
STANDINGS
Minnesota: 46 PTS (12-3-4-6) – 3rd Place
Vancouver: 27 PTS (7-1-4-13) – 7th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Vancouver: Tuesday, April 7 vs. Boston at 6:30 p.m. PT – Takeover Tour Edmonton
Minnesota: Saturday, April 11 vs. New York at 12 p.m. CT /1 p.m. ET