Minnesota Frost open PWHL season with 4-3 overtime loss to New York Sirens

The 8,022 fans waving twinkling purple light-up bracelets in the lower bowl of Xcel Energy Center had just sat down after the raising of the Minnesota Frost’s championship banner when Grace Zumwinkle gave them a reason to jump back to their feet.

Just 21 seconds into Sunday’s home opener, the reigning Rookie of the Year netted the fastest goal in the PWHL’s young history, putting the Frost ahead early over the New York Sirens.

But Minnesota’s early buzz didn’t last. The Sirens’ Alex Carpenter soon dished out her own stunner, 19 seconds into overtime, as New York played spoiler, 4-3.

Heading into its second PWHL season, the Frost took the ice with their new logo and name, having won the league’s inaugural Walter Cup title as “PWHL Minnesota,” against “PWHL Boston.”

“It’s super-exciting [to] relive the memory of winning,” Zumwinkle said. “But then as soon as the puck drops, it’s a new season. It’s a new start.”

Minnesota dominated the first period, outshooting New York 15-3, suffocating the Sirens’ attack with an organized forecheck and forcing goalie Corinne Schroeder into major saves.

After Kelly Pannek found Zumwinkle for her goal, captain Kendall Coyne Schofield doubled the lead in the first, crashing the net as the Frost’s first-round draft pick, defender Claire Thompson, slung the puck in from deep.

But even as they were outshot 38-20, and as the Frost limited New York’s odd-man rushes, the Sirens found ways to capitalize.

In a six-team league, there are slim margins between the reigning champs and last season’s last-place finishers. The Frost know those margins all too well, riding a five-game losing streak into the fourth and final seed of last year’s playoffs before their title run.

“We knew they were going to push in the second. We just didn’t match that push,” Coyne Schofield said. “The good part is, it’s Game 1, Day 1, and we get the opportunity to learn from tonight’s game.”

Carpenter assisted Jessie Eldridge on a long-range power-play goal that sneaked through a crowd in the second period. Then, Blaine native and Sirens rookie Gabby Rosenthal evened the score, scrambling on a rebound to tuck a shot past Frost goalie Nicole Hensley.

Minnesota’s No. 1 overall draft pick last season, former Gopher Taylor Heise, came up big for the Frost through the team’s playoff run last year. On Sunday, it was this year’s top draft pick, forward Sarah Fillier out of Princeton, who set up Carpenter for a pretty one-timer — the Sirens’ third-period go-ahead goal with 15 minutes left.

“I think the media likes to feel like there’s pressure,” Fillier said about making her pro debut. “But I mean, I like to just show up and play hockey with my friends and have fun.

“I played international hockey and college hockey,” added Fillier, a 2022 Olympic gold medalist with Canada. “This is kind of something a little bit in between, so it will take a second to get used to.”

Frost rookie Dominique Petrie scored an equalizer with four minutes left to force overtime. (She’s more used to knocking Minnesota teams out of big games, having scored the quadruple-overtime winner for Clarkson to bounce the Gophers out of last year’s NCAA tournament.)

But early in overtime, Fillier teed up Carpenter’s game-winning wrist shot to dampen Frost fans’ festivities.

“Give them credit, they hung in there,” Frost head coach Ken Klee said. “We were trying to put everything we had at them, and they found a way just to hang on. … Overall, when we outshoot teams 2-to-1, I like our chances.”

Next, Minnesota hits the road to face Boston on Wednesday in a rematch of last season’s PWHL Finals.

The Frost began their title defense after an offseason that saw most core on-the-ice contributors return, though the league-owned team parted ways with general manager and Minnesota hockey legend Natalie Darwitz after reports of a rift between her and Klee.