Highlights and Press Conferences available on Minnesota and Vancouver YouTube channels
VANCOUVER, BC (March 21, 2026) – The Minnesota Frost’s special teams shone, scoring two goals with the player advantage to outmatch the Vancouver Goldeneyes in a tightly contested 3-1 game in front of 10,366 on Saturday afternoon at Pacific Coliseum. Maddie Rooney made two highlight-reel third period saves with the Frost shorthanded to disappoint the home crowd on route to turning away 19/20 Goldeneyes chances. At the other end of the ice, Kristen Campbell did not allow an even-strength goal, stopping 20/22. Natalie Buchbinder drew first on the power play, walking in and firing the puck into the top right corner at 14:02 of the first period. With their third player advantage of the game and just 30 seconds remaining in the second period, Kelly Pannek capitalized with a five-hole goal that deflected off a Vancouver stick. Mannon McMahon brought the home crowd to their feet with her backhand goal on the doorstep, fed from bobblehead game star Jenn Gardiner, 8:49 into the third period. With Campbell pulled with just over three minutes remaining in the game, Britta Curl-Salemme recorded her second point of the afternoon, an empty-netter at 18:14 to bring the Frost out on top.
Minnesota’s fifth straight win raised the bar at the top of the league standings with 42 points, with Boston keeping pace with a win in their game that ended shortly after, and Montréal playing tomorrow just three points behind. They return home for a highly anticipated matchup with the Victoire on Mar. 25. Vancouver wraps up its five-game post Olympics homestand and heads on the road for the next five games, starting in Boston on Tuesday.
QUOTES
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on the team’s position in the standings: “We're looking to get points, we talk about that all the time. We're trying not to look exactly where we are in the standings every day, but just more how we're playing and putting points together. At the end of the day, we know it's going to be tough. We know we need to get as many as we can in the regular season. The last two [seasons] we've got in on the last day, so we know how important every point is, and we just look at it that way.”
Frost alternate captain Kelly Pannek on Minnesota’s special teams: “Those are two power play goals with how you draw them up, but taking advantage of those opportunities, like [Coach Ken Klee] said, this league is so tight, so any time you have that advantage, it's huge to take advantage of that. And on the flip side, I think as much as anything too, we try to be solid on our penalty kill. Any time you're winning that special teams battle, you're giving yourself a chance to win.”
Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski on his team’s approach to their remaining games against the top teams in the league: “Everyone in this league is good. Every game is tough and every game's a playoff game, so I don't think [where our opposition is in the standings] plays into [our approach] as much as us continuing to be confident, continuing to play the way we're playing. Opportunities and outcomes take care of themselves when you're executing and you're consistently doing the right things.”
Goldeneyes goal-scorer Mannon McMahon on making an impact with Vancouver since being traded: “Getting traded was definitely a shock, but my teammates, the organization, everyone involved has been super helpful. It's been really fun getting to know this group of players. With the Olympic break, [we’ve had] time to get settled and get some practices in. My new line has been great too. They're super easy to work with and it's been fun to find some chemistry with them. We're getting our opportunities, but pucks are loose in front of the net and at the end of the day we have to get more goals, so we have to find those scenarios.”
NOTABLES
Minnesota’s five straight wins ties a team record set during the inaugural season (Mar. 3-24, 2024) and is one shy of the league’s longest winning streaks of the season (Boston, Montréal, Ottawa).
The Frost have 11 regulation wins for the first time in team history, surpassing the 10 they recorded last season during a 42-point campaign.
This was Minnesota’s league leading 10th win of the season by multiple goals, but first by a two-goal margin. They have four wins by three-goal spreads, four by four-goal margins, and posted a five-goal victory on Wednesday over Ottawa.
Vancouver finished its season-high five-game post-Olympic homestand with five points (1-0-2-2) and were held to one goal in three of their losses.
Minnesota capitalized twice on three power play opportunities, matching their two goals with the player advantage scored on Mar. 8 in Toronto. That was also the last time the Frost scored on the power play, breaking a 0-for-10 stretch across the three games in between.
Vancouver went 0-for-3 on the power play and rank last with the play advantage at 7.8%.
The Goldeneyes’ third period goal was their 22nd of the season in the final frame, tied for most in the PWHL.
Britta Curl-Salemme and Kelly Pannek moved into a tie with teammate Taylor Heise for the PWHL scoring lead with 22 points, each recording a goal and an assist for their sixth multi-point performances of the season, tied with Heise for the league lead.
Curl-Salemme's ninth goal in her 21st game of the season matches the gold medalist’s career high across 28 games in her 2024-25 rookie season. She has points in each of her last five games (2G, 4A) for the second time this season, tied with Pannek for the league’s longest active point streak and one away from the league’s season-high of six, co-held by three of her Frost teammates (Heise, Kendall Cooper, and Mae Batherson).
Pannek moved into sole possession of the league lead in goals scoring her 12th the season, including a league-high five power play tallies. The alternate captain’s breakout offensive campaign has continued post-Olympics with points in five straight games (4G, 3A) including back-to-back two point nights for the second time this season (also Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 2G, 2A). Pannek and Curl-Salemme have only been left off the scoresheet five times in 21 games this season.
Natalie Buchbinder reached the back of the net for the first time in two seasons, her last goal coming almost two years ago on Mar. 24, 2024 against Montréal. It was also the first power play marker of the defender’s PWHL career. Buchbinder now has two points on the season, matching her total from last season.
Mannon McMahon has scored a goal in back-to-back games for the first time in her PWHL career, after breaking a 14-game scoreless drought dating back to Dec. 16 as a member of the Charge. The second year forward had a strong offensive afternoon also setting a career high with four shots on target.
Maddie Rooney recorded her seventh straight win, dating back to Jan. 11, and her third straight win and perfect record against Vancouver. In those seven contests, the goaltender has not allowed more than two goals and has allowed one or fewer in the last three, bringing her season goals-against average to 1.90 for third in the league overall, ahead of teammate Nicole Hensley’s 1.98.
Kristen Campbell did not allow an even strength goal this afternoon in her fourth consecutive start at Pacific Coliseum and the first of those contests without a point, going 1-0-2-1. The veteran netminder is now one start away from tying teammate Emerance Maschmeyer for the third most career games played (53).
Abby Hustler’s primary assist was her eighth of the season bringing the forward to 11 points overall, good for fifth overall in the rookie scoring race, two points behind Cooper’s 1G, 12A. The second-round pick has points in back-to-back games for the third time in her early PWHL career, with all three stretches including a point against Vancouver.
Sidney Morin snapped a nine-game scoreless stretch dating back to when she tallied a trio of assists on Jan. 11 vs. Seattle. The defender now has six assists in 21 games of the campaign, a new career high surpassing the five she tallied across 30 games in 2024-25 for Boston.
Denisa Křížová has points in consecutive games for the first time this season with an assist in each of the last two games. The Czech forward produced in her first game at Pacific Coliseum, after being traded from Vancouver back to her former team on Nov. 19 in exchange for Anna Segedi.
Klára Hymlárová recorded points in back-to-back regular season games for the first time in her PWHL career, notching an assist in each of the last two games. The Czech forward has now tripled her points total (6) from her first to her second PWHL season.
Jenn Gardiner made the scoresheet with a primary assist on her bobblehead night and has points in back-to-back games (2A) for the third time this season. The Surrey, BC native’s 10th point (3G, 7A) makes her the fifth player from the 2024 draft class to reach double-digits in consecutive seasons.
Tereza Vanišová joined McMahon and Gardiner with a point in each of the last two Goldeneyes games, the second time for the Czech forward this season who moves into a tie for second with Gardiner in team scoring. Her eighth assist surpassed the seven she tallied across 30 games last season in Ottawa, two away from her 2024 season high recorded across 23 games between Montréal and Ottawa.
Maschmeyer and Katie Chan remain scratched from the Goldeneyes lineup, both listed as day-to-day with upper-body injuries.
THREE STARS
1. Natalie Buchbinder (MIN) 1G
2. Kelly Pannek (MIN) GWG, 1A
3. Mannon McMahon (VAN) 1G
STANDINGS
Minnesota: 42 PTS (11-3-3-4) – 1st Place (Tied)
Vancouver: 24 PTS (6-1-4-10) – 7th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Vancouver: Tuesday, Mar. 24 at Boston at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
Minnesota: Wednesday, Mar. 25 vs. Montréal at 7 p.m. CT