The Minnesota Frost hosted the Montréal Victoire on a snowy Wednesday evening, Jan. 21. The Frost had most of their lineup back after some illness and injury hit the roster, with the exception of Dominique Petrie, who is out for the season with a lower-body injury. Nicole Henlsey was in the net, and they looked to extend their win streak to three games.
The Frost looked to have the upper hand as they came out with a jump in the first, but the Victoire bounced back, and the period ended scoreless. The second period saw some more even play, but towards the very end, the Victoire jumped up to take the lead 1-0 into the final period. The Frost tied it up late in the final period and forced overtime.
Marie-Philip Poulin secured the win for the Victoire with a big backhand spin-o-rama move, and the Frost fell 2-1. In this article we’ll look at a few takeaways for the Frost starting with their efforts to tie it.
Frost’s Pannek Knew the Right Place to be
The Frost may have lost, and they did struggle to score until the end, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have chances. They had 24 shots on goal, and Kelly Pannek scored on one of the two shots she had in the game. They were stumped most of the game despite having some very close calls, but in the final couple of minutes, Pannek knew where to be.
She saw Heise with the puck and knew she was going to take a shot, so she went to the net and was ready for the rebound that bounced out, and she had an open net to shoot at. They had a couple of other similar chances, but couldn’t get them past the goaltender, Ann-Renée Desbiens, who was ready for almost all of the Frost’s shots.
“Yeah, honestly …wasn’t too great in the faceoff circle, so that was the biggest thing, and that I was just trying to win the draw, and then we just got … I’m not on the ice with Heise too often but I knew kind of her rolling that seam up top, she made a great shot, just a really smart, dead-angle shot looking for a rebound and I was all alone back door so glad I could put that in there and it’s a big point to get in overtime so even though we lost it’s still an important point,” said Pannek about her goal that got them to overtime.
Frost’s Hensley Continues Dominance
The Frost have always been pretty strong in the goaltending department as they’ve had both Hensley and Maddie Rooney since day one. They’ve had their fair share of highs and lows, but overall, they’ve been a great tandem. That continued for the Frost as Hensley had her second consecutive start. She wasn’t tested too much in the first period, but she was ready when they headed her way.
Even in the second period, when she was knocked over hard, she bounced back up and was ready to make the next save. She held strong until the end of the period when a puck snuck underneath her, and the Victoire took the lead. Despite the goal, Hensley kept focused and didn’t allow that goal to bother her, and she continued to make the saves that allowed them to tie it and force overtime.
Even in the extra session, she made the big saves until Poulin pulled her spin-o-rama move that would catch any goaltender off guard. Hensley did everything she could to give her chance to win, but the Victoire found a way to get the win.
Frost Find Another Even Match
When the Frost played the New York Sirens last Friday, Jan. 21, it was safe to say they found a pretty even match. The game went back and forth, and their game against the Victoire went nearly the same way, with the exception of the number of goals scored. Their game against the Victoire was a bit more defensive-minded, with fewer goals and quite a bit more physical.
There were a number of shots in both directions, but the defense stepped up. Both teams had strong sticks, and the puck went back and forth with neither team rising above the other to be the clear-cut favorite. At first, it looked like the Frost would jump out on top, but then the Victoire stormed back.
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“I mean, obviously, if we finish on a couple of our chances in the first, I think the game opens up a little bit, maybe we get going, but Desbiens’ a great goalie, she made some big saves when they needed them, and obviously Nic (Hensley) made some big saves for us. So, it’s a tight checking game, I don’t know that there was something they were doing, I don’t think we were quite as sharp as we were like last time we played in here when we were able to put up six…,” said head coach Ken Klee about how the team played.
The Frost will have a couple of days to rest and learn before they play their next game. They’ll remain at home to host the New York Sirens on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 25.
