3 Takeaways From the Frost’s 2-1 Loss in Game 3 to the Victoire

The Minnesota Frost hosted the Montréal Victoire for Game 3 of the 2026 Walter Cup Semifinals on Thursday, May 7. Their lineup remained mostly the same, except they got Britta Curl-Salemme back from suspension, which moved Claire Butorac down to the fourth line, and Vanessa Upson was the extra skater. Natalie Buchbinder remained out with a lower-body injury and has yet to play in the postseason. 

Maddie Rooney was in the net for the third straight game, but with Game 4 on Friday, May 8, it’s likely Nicole Hensley would get the second half of the back-to-back. The game started out in favor of the Frost, who scored just over three minutes into the game and held the lead until the second. The Victoire stole the show with two goals in the middle frame to take the lead and held it into the third. The Frost tried to climb back into the game until the final seconds, but they ran out of time and fell 2-1. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with a bright spot and things that need to be better. 

Frost’s Morin Impactful 

While Sidney Morin was a more quiet presence during the regular season, she did her job on the blue line, where she picked up eight assists, but didn’t really stand out. She’s found another level in the postseason and added to that in Game 3 when she scored her second goal of the playoffs, and first of the night, to give her team the early lead. 

While she pushed offensively, she didn’t forget her defensive responsibilities either, as she had some great stickwork that kept the Victoire back. She was the Frost’s only goal scorer, and she made an impact on both sides of the puck. Hopefully, her efforts will spark her teammates, and they can get back in the win column on Friday night. 

“Yeah, for sure I think I speak to my confidence a lot and playing in Europe and how much confidence I got from that journey and obviously I didn’t score during the regular season, it wasn’t a secret but it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying…it just was that way and I tried not to put too much pressure on it, our team was winning it doesn’t really matter who scores, really nobody cares who’s scoring so now it happens to be me and it’s a lot of fun. I think just being a veteran, and I’ve played hockey for a long time, I played in a lot of big games, and I think that I’m just trying to bring that composure and that confidence to our d corps…,” said Morin to the media in her postgame press conference when asked about the journey of her game. 

Frost Fatigued But Hopeful 

The Frost came out looking strong with an early goal, but as the game went on, it was clear fatigue was setting in. They got beat to pucks and struggled to keep up at times. Then, a few minutes later, they would pick up the pace and do the opposite. However, they still couldn’t get the puck past the goaltender. They struggled to get it on the net after they got it in the zone. The final few minutes had some of their best chances, but they ran out of time. 

Now they’ll have to find a way to dig even deeper as they’ll be on the second half of a back-to-back, which is usually unheard of in the postseason and brings a whole different set of challenges. Regardless, the Frost are a team that has defied the odds not once but twice and look to do so again. 

“Yeah, I think it’s a challenge, I think it’s a little inappropriate, honestly but I think for us it’s like both teams are going through it, the other teams have six days in between games and we didn’t and that’s just the reality of what the league wanted and I think you know coming out tomorrow it’s all about the will to win. There’s just no time to be tired, there’s no time to say sorry, me we’re down, and I think our motto is when you’re down, you’re never out, and I think we’ve shown that every year,” said Taylor Heise to the media in her postgame press conference when asked about having back-to-back games. 

Frost Power Play Again

The Frost had every opportunity to get back into the game as they had seven power plays and couldn’t convert on any. They did a good job of staying out of the penalty box, and their penalty kill was solid when needed, but their power play has to be better. If they had scored at least once on their power plays, this could’ve been a whole different game. 

They came out strong and had the lead, but the Victoire are a fast-paced team, and within 24 seconds, the game changed from the Frost leading to them trailing. However, if they’d converted on a power play, they could’ve either built a bigger lead earlier or climbed back into the game and changed the momentum. If they want to stay alive in the postseason, they have to find a way to make their power play convert if they get that many chances. 

“Yeah, I think you go through ebs and flows and…the amount of shots I had today, one of them had to go in and that’s on me and I will take full responsibility for that but I do think just settling down and understanding like it’s not a press situation it’s more of a time to be loose and you know tomorrow it is a big pressure situation but the more loose we can play, the better we are and we were number one in the regular season for a reason and the two groups that we have are dynamic and the more we can come out tomorrow with an open mindset and realize it’s anyone’s game and just understand that the power play is not a time to grip your stick hard and white knuckle the puck but just to go out there and have fun…” said Heise to the media when asked about the power play. 

It’ll be a big task for the Frost to not only come back in the series but also do it in a back-to-back situation, if any team can do it, it would be the Frost. They are a team that thrives on being in high-pressure situations, and hopefully, they can do it again and come out with the win.