The Minnesota Frost hosted the Boston Fleet for the third time this season, and it was their fourth meeting overall. The Frost had won all three of their prior meetings and were looking to make it an even four after suffering some hard losses at the hands of the Montréal Victoire and the Ottawa Charge.
The Frost got an early lead, and they kept it going throughout the game. When things got a little close for comfort, their goaltender, Nicole Hensley, stepped up and made the saves they needed to get the win and pulled away towards the end of the game. We’ll look at how the Frost won, starting with their star, Taylor Heise.
Frost’s Heise Leads the Offense
Heise and her teammates had a jump in their steps from the beginning of the game, which helped them get on the board first. She played like a player on a mission, scoring two goals and nearly having a hat trick before the game was over. Her energy helped motivate her team, and although she hasn’t been a big scorer this season, she may have just started a scoring streak.
“It’s a great question. Coach is telling me to shoot, players tell me to shoot, my dad does too. I’m always going to try to make the right play if it’s there. I love making the right play, whether that’s a pass or a shot, I just think today I was on the receiving end of some passes where typically I’m the one making them, so I think today, just making sure I’m a force to be reckoned with every time I’m out there, I want to be the best player on the ice every game, but also I need to be doing the right things defensively and offensively so it’s the focus of getting shots on net but quality. I’m never really going to be one to just throw a puck on net but I think today there was open spots and people found me and just get shots on net it creates opportunity,” said Heise about shooting instead of passing.
Heise wasn’t the only one doing the scoring, her line was a machine against the Fleet as Kendall Coyne-Schofield also scored towards the end of the game and Michela Cava had two assists. The other two goals were at the hands of Brooke McQuigge and Katy Knoll, while Sophie Jaques also had two assists. Hopefully, they can continue to achieve this level of production going forward.
Frost Play Their Game
The main reason the Frost were able to get the win over the Fleet was because they stuck to their style of play. They used their strengths of speed and didn’t get caught up in playing more physically like the Fleet tended to do. In the past few games, the Frost have done what they could but struggled to get on the scoresheet, but that changed against the Fleet.
“I think even for the past three games, we have had that. I kind of said it out there: we’re not playing bad, no part of the last three games have been bad. We had battled, we’re really good d zone wise, getting shots off. I think today we were just in the right spots offensively. We’ve kind of been working in practice of shifting around, being in the right areas for people, and then defensively, Nic stopped almost everything she needed to, and we played well, so I think today you could feel that we had that energy, but I’m hoping that we continue to bring that every single game.” Heise said about how they had a strong effort to get past the Fleet.
Frost Still Have Areas to Fix
The Frost did a lot of good in their win over the Fleet, and while they made mistakes, they kept playing hard consistently, something they haven’t done in a lot of the season. Their penalty kill was strong, but their penalties came at bad times, which could’ve swung the game’s momentum if the Fleet had scored. The penalties were avoidable, and that’s something they’ll have to work on going forward, along with continuing to have strong, all-around efforts in every game.
Related: PWHL Superstar Taylor Heise Joins Upper Deck with Exclusive Collectibles Deal
“Bounce back. In this league obviously I don’t think we have any back-to-back games, but we play Tuesday, tomorrow we need to bounce back, we need to feel good. Do what you need to do at practice. I think we’re doing a great job. We have a lot of veterans, you know what gotta do in practice, we don’t need to go out there and blow anyone’s head off. I think we do a good job of finding and feeling out what it takes to be good and what it takes to be at your best, whether that be doing extra rehab, doing extra treatment. I think our team is very professional in that sense, and coaches understand that everyone does what they need to do…” said Heise about what needs to be done to have a strong second half.
Frost Host Sceptres
The Frost have only seen the Toronto Sceptres once this season, which was on the road at the beginning of the season. The Frost won and will look to do the same at home before heading out for four straight games on the road. Hopefully, they can keep the scoring going and win a second over the Sceptres.
