On Wednesday, April 1, the Minnesota Frost took on the New York Sirens for the fourth time in the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. Heading into this game, the Frost had already won the past three, so their odds were strong.
A goal just 16 seconds into the game gave the Frost an early lead, but the Sirens tied it up five minutes later. The Frost were back in the lead, thanks to a power-play goal in the second period, and then another goal less than a minute into the third period. However, the Sirens kicked it into high gear, with Sarah Fillier scoring two goals in 14 seconds to tie the game. The two teams were forced to go to overtime, and it was Fillier again, in the final seconds of three-on-three, where she scored the game-winning goal to hand the Frost a 4-3 overtime loss.
Heise Was on Fire
The Frost came into this game hungry, and they sure showed it in just the opening few seconds. Lee Stecklein stole the puck from the Sirens in their zone and passed it to Britta Curl-Salemme. She skated it into the Frost’s zone, where she passed it to Taylor Heise in front of the net. She sent the puck into the wide open space Callie Shanahan allowed as she hugged the post.
Related: New York Sirens Trade Jincy Roese to Minnesota Frost for Denisa Krizova
With her early goal in this game, Heise now has nine goals and 15 assists, bringing her point total to 24 for the season so far. Despite having eight games without any points, you wouldn’t know it, considering Heise has as many points as the Frost has played games. She has surpassed her career-high point total of 22, which she reached last season. In her third season in the league, Heise has been excelling at an incredible rate.
Zumwinkle Gave Frost the Lead
Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same spot, but Grace Zumwinkle sure did in the second period.
Two minutes into the period, Clair DeGeorge took a seat for holding. With just seconds remaining on the extra-player advantage, Abby Hustler dished a pass to Zumwinkle. With a brilliant backhand shot, she gave the Frost the lead.
Just seconds into the third period, Peyton Anderson took a shot, but Shanahan made the save. Kelly Pannek reset the play, and Sidney Morin picked up the puck and skated it around the back of the net. She passed it to Zumwinkle in front, whose shot found the empty net while Shanahan was out of the crease.
This game was Zumwinkle’s third of the 2025-26 season, where she has recorded multiple goals in one game, her fourth overall multi-point game of the season. She has 17 points, just two shy of her career-high of 19. With six games left and the way Zumwinkle has been playing, it seems highly possible she will have a new career-high by the end of the season.
Frost Collapsed in the Third
Despite three power-play chances in the third period to keep their lead, the Frost struggled on all three chances. They only took seven shots on net, compared to the Sirens’ 10. They commanded the first 40 minutes, but fell apart in the last 20.
The Frost have the best power-play success rate in the league, posting a 20.3. Sure, Zumwinkle scored the power-play goal in the second to give Minnesota the lead, but these three chances they were awarded could have been what gave the Frost the win. Instead, the lack of scoring cost them the game.
Frost Head Back Home
The Frost will head back to Minnesota and host the Vancouver Goldeneyes on Saturday, April 4. The season series between the Frost and the Sirens will conclude in Minnesota on Saturday, April 11.
