PWHL WALTER CUP PLAYOFFS: GAME 4 MONTRÉAL AT MINNESOTA PRIMER

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

The Victoire have the lead in a playoff series for the first time in team history thanks to their win in Game 3, the team’s first-ever road win and regulation win in playoff history. Montréal went 1-0-0-3 in their first four true road games this season but have gone 5-3-0-1 in their last nine, with three of those eight wins coming in Minnesota.

Montréal set a PWHL record by going 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in Game 3. It was just the third PWHL game all-time (regular or postseason) in which one team had at least seven power-play opportunities – the Victoire went 2-for-7 against Ottawa on Nov. 30, 2024, and New York went 1-for-7 against Ottawa on Jan. 20, 2026. The Victoire led the league with a 91.8% penalty kill, and the Frost led with a 23.0% power play in the season.

Maggie Flaherty of Lakeville, MN, and U.S. Olympian Hayley Scamurra scored 24 seconds apart in the second period of Game 3. That’s the fastest pair of goals by one team in PWHL postseason history, surpassing the old mark of 27 seconds set by Toronto’s Savannah Harmon and Allie Munroe against Minnesota in Game 2 of their semifinal series last season.

Scamurra became the third Montréal player to record a goal and an assist in the same playoff game, but the first to do so in a regulation win – captain Marie-Philip Poulin had one of each in an overtime loss in Game 3 against Boston in 2024 and Kristin O’Neill had one of each in last year’s 4OT win over Ottawa in Game 2. Flaherty, whose two career playoff goals have been scored in Game 3 action at Grand Casino Arena (also May 13, 2024), leads all defenders with 10 shots on goal.

Ann-Renée Desbiens has allowed one or fewer goals to the Frost in five of seven games this season and in 19 total games between regular season and playoffs, tied with Boston’s Aerin Frankel. She had one such game in her first eight playoff starts.

Maureen Murphy had Montréal’s lone goal in the team’s only Game 4 in playoff history, a 2-1 loss in Ottawa on May 16, 2025. Her five points (3G, 2A) led the team through the completion of the 2024 and 2025 postseasons, but the Buffalo, NY, native is still looking for her first point in the 2026 playoffs.

The Frost are 4-0 all-time in the playoffs when facing elimination, though all four of those games came in its 2024 Walter Cup run – three against Toronto, including two wins on home ice, followed by a Game 5 win on the road, and one road win against Boston in the series finale. The only other PWHL team with a win when facing elimination is Boston (Game 4 of the 2024 Walter Cup Final).

Maddie Rooney earned the first three wins of her playoff career in elimination games against Toronto in the 2024 semifinals with back-to-back shutouts and just one goal against in the series clincher, stopping 64 of 65 shots across the three games (.985 SV%). Nicole Hensley posted a 17-save shutout in Game 5 of the 2024 finals against Boston.

Minnesota is 3-1 in Game 4 history, with all four decided in overtime. In semifinals against Toronto, Claire Butorac scored in double-overtime to stay alive with a 1-0 win on May 15, 2024, and Taylor Heise scored to clinch the series on May 14, 2025, both at Grand Casino Arena. Last night’s result ended the Frost’s playoff streak of seven consecutive overtime games.

Sidney Morin’s two goals in three games of the series are halfway to the four the Minnetonka, MN, native has scored across 84 career regular season games. Three of the Frost’s six playoff goals have been scored by defenders. They led the league with 62 points by defenders during the regular season despite ranking eighth with just seven goals from the blue line.

Lee Stecklein picked up an assist in Game 3, her ninth career postseason game with a point, breaking a tie with Heise for the most in PWHL history. Heise’s 17 playoff points are still the most all-time, four more than Stecklein and Michela Cava’s 13. The Frost alternate captain is one of five players and the only defender with multiple points in three straight playoffs.

Kendall Coyne Schofield has scored five of her 10 career postseason points in nine home games, including an assist last night. Her other four points at home were recorded in a pair of consecutive multi-point games last season against Toronto, including a two-goal effort in the Game 4 clincher.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“We’ve got to take into account the recovery. We’ve got to take into account the mental capacity, the mental load. We’re not going to do too much different. We’re probably going to do a little bit less than what we would normally do in terms of the information we give to the players. So it’s a test for us. We haven’t experienced that this year, but certainly it’s a test that we’re ready to take on.” – Victoire Head Coach Kori Cheverie

“I thought we came out hard last night, and we played a really good game – probably one of the best games we’ve played all series. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we’re looking forward to playing again today in front of our home crowd and getting this must-win game.” – Frost defender Sidney Morin

FRIDAY’S GAME: The 2026 PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, presented by SharkNinja, continue tonight with Game 4 of the best-of-five semifinal series between Minnesota and Montréal at Grand Casino Arena, with the Victoire leading 2-1. This is the first time in PWHL playoff history where a series includes games on back-to-back days with the games scheduled ahead of two Minnesota Wild games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday and on Monday, and the Stars on Ice Tour hosted by the venue Sunday. The Frost have never played back-to-back games at home but did so on the road this season with a regulation loss in Ottawa and an overtime loss in Montréal Jan. 3-4. The only time the Victoire have played back-to-back was last season at home with a regulation win over Ottawa and a shootout win over Toronto Jan. 29-30, 2025. On this day, May 8, 2024, Minnesota played in the first-ever PWHL playoff game in Toronto. The Frost are proud to welcome back Bonnie Shea to tonight’s game, the 81-year-old trailblazer who was the only girl playing organized hockey in her hometown of Duluth, MN, back in 1951, and who continues to play the game she loves. Tonight’s referees are Damian Figueira and Cianna Murray, with linespersons Patrick Dapuzzo and Katie Glover. This is the second of two playoff games on tonight’s schedule as the Ottawa Charge host the Boston Fleet for Game 3 at 7 p.m. ET, with the best-of-five semifinal series tied 1-1. Following this game, fans can tune-in for live reaction of both results with Jocks in Jills streaming on the league’s YouTube channel.