Highlights and Press Conferences available on Minnesota and Ottawa YouTube channels
OTTAWA, ON (January 3, 2026) – The Ottawa Charge carried their winning streak into the New Year with a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Saturday afternoon before a sold-out crowd of 8,235 at TD Place. Brianne Jenner opened and closed the scoring with a first period tally at 4:01, and an empty-net goal at 17:16 of the third period to seal the win. All other goals were scored in the middle frame, beginning with a Kelly Pannek strike just 38 seconds after intermission to knot the score 1-1. The Charge took control thereafter with Emily Clark and Kateřina Mrázová both getting their firsts of the season, with rookie Sarah Wozniewicz adding one in between to climb to a 4-1 lead. PWHL top scorer Britta Curl-Salemme cut the Frost deficit to 4-2, staying hot with a five-game point streak. Gwyneth Philips made 24 saves for her fifth win of the season, which ties her for the league lead. Maddie Rooney took the loss with 17 saves. The Charge have now collected nine of a possible 12 points since defeating the Frost in overtime on Dec. 21 in Chicago and have enjoyed back-to-back sell-outs at home over the holidays. The Frost will look to get back into the win column when they visit Montréal tomorrow for a fourth straight road game.
QUOTES
Ottawa forward Emily Clark on finally getting on the scoresheet: “The monkey was feeling a little heavy on my back. It’s just because you want to help the team out, but it’s been great. We’ve been rolling and a lot of players have been playing great hockey, especially this one (pointing to Sarah Wozniewicz). It feels great to contribute to a three-point win today when you know that every point in this league matters.”
Charge rookie Sarah Wozniewicz on her adaptation to the level of competition in the PWHL: “Every game is just a battle out there compared to college. It’s just so awesome to be in a competitive environment for every game. Every day, you have to come and show your best.”
Minnesota alternate captain Kelly Pannek on the rivalry between the teams: “It's been good. I think it's fun to have games and teams that maybe have a little bit of extra spice to them as I'd say. I think that's how they play too; they play physically, play in your face. They love to play off the rush. I think at the end of the day, it kind of feels that way against every team. It's not hard to get up for a game in this league. And I think there's just been some carry-over tension, maybe, from last year. On our side, it's just about trying to get three points every game.”
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on the significance of the standings: “Every game is important. Every point is important. We know that. We've found out the last two years that we are tied with several teams to get ourselves into the playoffs, and then we did well from there. So for us, it's just about getting points. We've got a good trip. We got five out of the first six, and then we dropped three today, but we have another chance tomorrow to try to get some points on this trip.”
NOTABLES
Ottawa’s four-game win streak is the team’s longest since the inaugural season (Mar. 20 to Apr. 24, 2024). That streak included three straight regulation wins followed by a shootout win, with the final three games played at home. Today’s win was the first in regulation following back-to-back overtime victories and a shootout triumph.
The Charge scored five goals for the second time this season, second-most in the PWHL behind the Frost with three such games.
Ottawa scored their league leading seventh power play goal of the season, and fourth against Minnesota, and lead the PWHL with a 24.1% efficiency with the player advantage.
Sarah Wozniewicz became just the third rookie this season to record a three-point performance with a goal and her first two assists of the campaign. The Charge third-round pick has scored in two straight games against Minnesota, previously scoring the overtime winner against the Frost in Chicago.
Brianne Jenner scored multiple goals for the second time this season, following her four-point performance (2G, 2A) on Nov. 26 against Vancouver. She is now tied for second in PWHL scoring with 10 points (5G, 5A) in 10 games, reaching double digits for the third straight season. The Charge have a regular-season record of 16-1 when the captain scores, including both games against Minnesota this season.
Emily Clark scored her first goal of the season on her 32nd shot on net, ending a career-high nine-game pointless drought to open the season. The Charge alternate captain led the team in playoff scoring with three goals and five points.
Kateřina Mrázová recorded her first goal on the power play in her tenth game of the campaign, also ending the longest goal scoring drought of her PWHL career. The Czech forward did not have a power play in any of her 14 games last season but tied for the Ottawa lead in the inaugural season with three.
Kelly Pannek scored a goal and an assist for her fourth multi-point game of the season, and third in as many games against Ottawa, representing a new career-high just nine games into the campaign. The Frost alternate captain has reached double digits in points (4G, 6A) for the third straight season and is one point from tying her 2024-25 point total of 11 (3G, 8A) produced across 30 games.
Britta Curl-Salemme has scored in consecutive games for the second time this season, while extending her career-high point streak to five (4G, 2A). The league’s top scorer has 11 points (4G, 7A) in nine games, including four points (2G, 2A) in three games against Ottawa.
Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper both extended their assist streaks to five straight games, tying a PWHL record. Cooper now has six assists which ties the Frost first-round pick for the most among rookies, while Batherson’s fifth assist brings her season total to six points for a share of the team lead among defenders. It also comes on the same day, and in the same city, where her older brother Drake will suit up for the Ottawa Senators against Winnipeg.
Gwyneth Philips has won four straight games for the first time in her PWHL career. She finishes the game one shot shy of facing 300 on the season, the most of any goaltender, and continues to lead the league with 278 saves. Including playoffs, 12 of her 32 total appearances have come against Minnesota.
Jocelyne Larocque recorded two assists for her first multi-point performance in 34 games as a member of the Charge. The alternate captain previously had two assists in a game with Toronto back on Feb. 27, 2024, also against Minnesota.
Rory Guilday picked up a primary assist for her third point (1G, 2A) in three games against her home state team and has four helpers in her last five games. The Charge first-round pick leads all PWHL rookies in scoring with seven points (1G, 6A) in 10 games.
Ronja Savolainen has registered an assist in consecutive games for the first time this season and fourth time in her career.
Anna Shokhina recorded the first power play assist and point of her career, with the Charge second-round pick’s previous goal and assist scored at even strength.
Rebecca Leslie contributed her fourth assist of the season and now has five points (3G, 2A) in her last five games and eight points (4G, 4A) in 10 games overall.
Maddie Rooney faced Ottawa for the first time this season after winning three straight games against them in the 2025 PWHL Walter Cup Finals. She has now lost three of four starts to open the 2025-26 campaign.
THREE STARS
1. Sarah Wozniewicz (OTT) 1G, 2A
2. Emily Clark (OTT) 1G
3. Brianne Jenner (OTT) 2G
STANDINGS
Minnesota (4-1-1-3) – 2nd Place (Tied)
Ottawa (2-3-0-5) – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Minnesota: Sunday, Jan. 4 at Montréal at 2 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Friday, Jan. 9 vs. Vancouver at 7 p.m. ET