Missing key players, Frost shut out 5-0 at home by New York Sirens

Whether ill, injured or suspended, the shorthanded Frost played on without five regulars on Saturday, all the way to an uncharacteristic 5-0 shutout loss to the opportunistic New York Sirens.

Until Saturday, the first-place Frost hadn’t trailed by as many as three goals in their first seven games this season. Until Saturday, they never scored fewer than two goals.

The Sirens’ five-goal margin of victory is the largest in PWHL history. It came before 6,414 fans at Xcel Energy Center.

Frost star Taylor Heise returned after a game away sick, one of several players knocked down by a viral bug. Scorer Grace Zumwinkle didn’t play because of a shoulder injury suffered in the first period of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Boston. Starting goaltender Nicole Hensley left the ice after injuring herself during Saturday’s pregame warmups.

And second-round pick Britta Curl-Salemme was suspended by the league Saturday for what its rules review panel deemed a dangerous hit to an opponent’s head by the rookie forward in Thursday’s game.

Frost coach Ken Klee said he hasn’t seen anything quite like it.

“When you take out the number of long-term injuries and just some sickness up and down the lineup, we didn’t face anything like this last year,” he said. “We just rolled with it. It’s pro hockey. Crazy things happen.”

Crazy enough that the Frost summoned ailing Maddie Rooney from her Hugo home to back up Lucy Morgan, who became the emergency starter when Hensley suddenly disappeared. Rooney arrived on the bench during the game’s first TV timeout.

Morgan played last season with the Gophers and four seasons at St. Lawrence before that. She went to the Frost training camp in November and was signed Thursday to a 10-day contract when Rooney fell ill.

“All of a sudden, Nicole left,” Klee said. “Lucy was looking around, like, `Where did Nicole go?’ I don’t think she knew either. It was one of those things. She didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. Just get in there and do your job. She did a pretty good job.”

Morgan surrendered a goal on New York’s first shot, a deflection off a teammate’s skate 70 seconds into the game. That’s the fastest first goal in Sirens history. New York scored four more times, early and late in both the second and third periods.

The Frost had their chances, particularly early in the game, but couldn’t convert them.

“We just have to find a way to the back of the net,” Klee said. “Then it’s a different game. They didn’t let us get on the board to get going and that’s kind of the way it went.”

Klee said he hopes Hensley’s injury “won’t be too long.” He said he expects Zumwinkle to miss two to three weeks, calling her “upper-body injury” not as bad as he or the team doctors feared.

“They were happy it wasn’t going to be longer,” Klee said.

BOXSCORE: New York 5, Frost 0

Heise played nearly 19 minutes despite being one of several Frost players knocked down by a viral bug since holiday break.

“I wasn’t quite sure when I woke up,” Heise said. “Just look at our team, there’s a lot of sick people. If you put a microphone in there, you’ll hear a lot of coughing and sneezing. You play for your teammates. I’m going to be fine. It’s an illness. It’s not going to kill you. Drink a lot of water, eat, sleep and I’ll be good next game.”

Klee called for consistency after the league suspended Curl-Salemme for a hit to an opponent’s neck and head with her stick.

“I know the league is trying to set a precedent,” Klee said. “In my mind, they better be watching every game, every hit, every penalty. That’s the message I’m giving my team.”