Frost fall to Sceptres in rare appearance at Xcel Energy Center

The Frost knew Toronto was going to be difficult to stop.

The Sceptres rolled into Minnesota confident — they were on a five-game winning streak and had scored at least three goals in eight consecutive games.

Minnesota was able to break that second streak but not the first. The Frost fell to the Sceptres 2-1 in a fast-paced and scrappy battle Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.

“We just have to figure out a way to bury pucks. We had lots of looks. We had lots of chances,” Frost coach Ken Klee said. “I liked our game. I liked our jump. We’ve just got to figure out ways to finish.”

The two teams were tied for second place in the PWHL standings before the game, and Toronto (8-2-4-6, 32 points) now takes sole possession of it.

The Frost (6-4-3-7, 29 points) have lost four of their past five games.

BOXSCORE: Toronto 2, Frost 1

PWHL standings

Montreal (34 points) is in first place.

The Frost, playing at home for the first time since Jan. 28, were on the board first. In front of an enthusiastic crowd of 8,770, Dominique Petrie sent a puck toward a waiting Michela Cava in the low slot. The resulting power-play goal by Cava, 6:20 into the first period, gave the home team a 1-0 lead.

Petrie’s assist also means the Frost are finally getting healthy again. After several long weeks without Petrie and Grace Zumwinkle, the standout forwards were back in action Sunday. They both returned to the lineup Feb. 11 at Toronto, and Sunday’s rematch was their first time back at the X since getting off long-term injury reserve.

Frost defender Natalie Buchbinder also came off long-term IR for Sunday’s game.

Toronto got an answer goal from forward Emma Maltais 11:48 into the second period, during the final minute of a five-minute power play that resulted from a check-to-the-head call against Frost forward Brooke McQuigge.

“You know, refs make calls” was all Klee had to say about the controversial major penalty call.

“He’s gonna be PC about it, but I don’t agree with it,” forward Taylor Heise said. “It set us back.”

The Sceptres kept rolling from there, breaking the tie 7:13 into the third with a finisher from Jesse Compher.

The Frost had quality equalizing chances in the final period, but Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell was solid, crushing chance after chance to the groans of fans. She finished with 22 saves.

Maddie Rooney had 21 saves for the Frost.

This was the Frost’s only home game of February, as they are in a stretch of playing nine of 10 games away from Xcel Energy Center, including a neutral-site game March 7 against Ottawa in Raleigh, N.C. The Frost’s next true home game will be March 26 against Montreal.

Historically, hockey is not a diverse sport: There are only four Black players in the PWHL and only seven playing Division I hockey.

The Frost’s Sophie Jaques — one of those four pro players and a trailblazer for Black women in hockey — was on the ice during Sunday’s celebration of Black History Month and is working to change the numbers.

“For a lot of young Black girls out there, they don’t have a family member who played hockey, so it’s harder for them to feel like they belong in the sport,” she said in an interview shown on the jumbotron.

Jaques, 24, was the first Black player to be drafted into the PWHL. She won the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award at Ohio State.

“It’s great as it continues to spread with Sarah [Nurse] and [Montreal forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis],” she added, referencing Nurse, the injured Toronto player who was the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in hockey, with Canada in 2022.

“It’s great for those little girls to have multiple role models and people to look up to.”