For the first time in almost two weeks, the Minnesota Frost was back on the ice to take on the Ottawa Charge at home on Thursday, Dec. 19, for Mental Health Awareness night that featured the group Sophie’s Squad. Despite a blast of snow that hit the Twin Cities, a crowd of 4,686 made the trek to see the Frost play.
It was a tight game from beginning to end, and when it looked like the score would go one way or another, the opposition found a way to answer. However, the Frost got the upper hand, and despite a bit of a resurgence from the Charge, the score held, and the Frost took the win. They did lose Sophie Jaques in the middle of the third period after taking a hit behind the net. In this article we’ll look at how the Frost were able to come away with the win, starting with their special teams.
Frost’s Special Teams Strong
The Frost were successful in both areas of their special teams against the Charge, something their counterparts in the NHL have been struggling with lately. The Frost had two power-play goals on three chances throughout the game. They had a strong setup and moved the puck quickly before the other team could set up, and they took a lot of shots.
Their penalty kill was also outstanding; while they allowed a few chances that could’ve been troublesome for them, they kept the Charge from scoring while on the power play. The Charge had two chances, but the Frost were able to stay disciplined and keep them to the perimeter without letting too many close to the net, and it worked.
“It’s just putting good players in good positions; I think they’re all kind of moving. ‘Critter’s’ (Chris Johnson) doing a great job working with them, talking to them, kind of where they’re going to be on the ice, what situations they can be in, but also make hockey plays. So, he’s a big believer; he’s kind of taking a lot of ownership of the power play and helping them to succeed, and they’re obviously making plays. It was a great pass, actually great puck recovery by Taylor (Heise) to get it back to Claire (Thompson) to go over to the one-timer for Zums and Britta’s (Curl-Salemme) in front screening, which is awesome. So it’s good to see everyone’s helping out, everyone’s chipping in, and we’ll make a lot of good plays,” said head coach Ken Klee in their postgame press conference.
Pannek Makes it Look Easy
The Frost have a lot of natural goal scorers on their roster, but Kelly Pannek scored a wraparound backhand style goal against the Charge that is normally a difficult goal to score, but she made it look easy. A lot of times with wraparound goals, the puck stays on the ice and just sneaks between the goaltender’s outstretched foot and the pipe, but not Pannek’s.
She was able to lift the puck as she wrapped it and flung it over the goaltender’s glove to tie the game and give her team the boost they needed to get things going. She continued to carry the momentum, which paid off as she scored her second goal and the first on the power play for the Frost. She motivated her team to play their game and kept themselves ahead of the Charge. She nearly had a hat trick when the Charge pulled their goaltender, but it just missed, hitting the post.
“Yeah, I was going for the Grace Zumwinkle hat trick….she said she was going to wait for me, but I was not coming anywhere close to catching up with her; so glad she finished that one,” said Pannek about her attempt at the empty net and Zumwinkle scoring later on the empty net in the postgame press conference.
Frost Produce Offense
While both Pannek and Zumwinkle had two goals a piece, Claire Thompson had a hand in four of the five goals as she assisted on three and scored one herself. She’s proving so far that she’s more than just a defender; she can also contribute offensively, which is something the Frost needs when their big scorers don’t produce.
Related: Minnesota Frost Take Down Ottawa Charge 5-2
Thompson wasn’t the only one with multiple assists on the night, as her teammate Taylor Heise didn’t score any goals; although she came close multiple times, she did assist on two. So it’s clear that Frost’s offense found a way to get through against the Charge, and hopefully, it’s just the start, as they have a lot of season left.
Frost on the Road
Before their game against the Charge, the Frost hadn’t played a game since Dec. 7, nearly two full weeks. Luckily for the Frost, the time off didn’t seem to bother them, and now they’ll play their second game in three days as they’ll play against the New York Sirens on Sunday, Dec. 21. Hopefully, this is just the start of a lot of offense that leads to some more wins for the Frost.
