Thursday, February 13, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. ET | The Arena at TD Place
WATCH LIVE: TSN 5, TSN.ca, TSN App, FanDuel Sports Network North, PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International)
Matt Cullen (Play-by-Play), Becky Kellar (Analyst), Claire Hanna (Reporter)
MINNESOTA FROST
5-4-3-4 | 26 PTS | 2ND PLACE
Top Scorer: Kendall Coyne Schofield – 16 GP, 6-9-15 PTS
Last Game: 3-2 OTL at TOR on Feb. 11
OTTAWA CHARGE
5-0-2-8 | 17 PTS | 6TH PLACE
Top Scorer: Tereza Vanišová – 15 GP, 4-3-7 PTS
Last Game: 4-2 L at TOR on Feb. 1
2024-25 SEASON SERIES: TIED 3-3 IN POINTS (MINNESOTA WON 10-5 IN 2024)
Dec. 19 at MIN: 5-2 MIN | Jan. 21 at MIN: 1-0 OTT | Feb. 13 at OTT | Mar. 7 at MIN (RALEIGH) | Mar. 11 at OTT | Apr. 30 at OTT
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
These teams have met twice this season, both in Minnesota – the Frost picked up a 5-2 win on Dec. 19, and Ottawa won 1-0 on Jan. 21. These teams met three times at TD Place last season, with Minnesota earning a pair of one-goal wins followed by a 4-0 Ottawa win. The Charge are the only team with multiple regular season shutouts against Minnesota.
Since losing to Ottawa on Jan. 21, the Frost have picked up points in three straight games (1-1-1-0), most recently a 3-2 overtime loss in Toronto on Tuesday. Minnesota’s seven games decided beyond regulation are the most by any team this season. Last year, the most was eight, by Montréal.
Sophie Jaques (1G, 1A) recorded her third multi-point game this season on Tuesday. The only other defender with three multi-point games this season is teammate Claire Thompson – the rest of the PWHL has combined for 12 such games, with no other team having more than three. Jaques’ two goals and eight assists in 11 games this season match her totals from 22 games last season.
Mae Batherson will play her first PWHL game in Ottawa, but the Batherson name should be familiar to Senators fans. Her brother Drake is in his seventh season with the NHL club, having played in 365 games in his career.
Minnesota defender Maggie Flaherty and Ottawa forward Gabbie Hughes were teammates at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, spending five seasons together between 2018-23. They were also both selected in the fourth round of the inaugural draft.
The Charge lost to the Sceptres, 4-2, in Toronto on Feb. 1, and have now allowed 11 goals in their three straight losses since shutting out Minnesota on Jan. 21. They had allowed a combined 12 goals in their previous seven games.
Kateřina Mrázová had a goal and an assist in Ottawa’s last game and increased her time on ice to 20:45. She now has three games with two points this season and has zero points in her other seven games combined. The Czech forward finished last season with a strong second half – after recording just three points in her first 10 games, she had 15 points in her last 13 games to finish with 18, second most on the team.
Both games in the recent Rivalry Series were won by Charge goaltenders who allowed just one goal against each. Gwyneth Philips (USA) stopped 32 shots in a shootout victory and Emerance Maschmeyer (CAN) made 28 saves in the series finale. Philips has played both games against the Frost this season, earning a shutout victory and an overall save percentage of .934.
Both teams have done the bulk of their damage at even strength – the Charge have scored 88.9% of their goals at even strength, highest in the league, while the Frost rank second at 80.0%. These are the only two teams without a shorthanded goal this season.
The Charge begin a second half stretch with seven of their next 10 games to be played at TD Place where they have a 1-0-1-2 record. Their five total home games are fewest in the PWHL, while the Frost’s six road games is also the lowest amount to date.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“I like the quick turnaround after our game in Toronto. We did a lot of good things, especially in the third period and OT so it’s good to get right back to work. Ottawa makes you work hard to create opportunities, so we need to bring that same intensity right away against a good team.” - Frost Head Coach Ken Klee.
“We’ve earned our right to be back at home. We’re excited about what sits in front of us and the opportunity that we have. You look at the start of the season and you see 11 out of 15 games away from TD Place to start and you say, yes, we’re going to be ok! And we were, but it's nice to be back at home for a stretch because we are looking for some consistency here and that should be helping us to get it.” - Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod.
THURSDAY’S GAME: It’s Mental Health Awareness night in Ottawa as the Charge welcome the Frost for the first time this season. Charge forward Gabbie Hughes, who hails from Minnesota, is a strong advocate for the Unity Game theme, as a co-founder of Sophie’s Squad – an organization that aims to improve the mental health of athletes. Do It For Daron (DIFD) - a local mental health foundation – will also be highlighted tonight and holds special meaning for Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie. When her good friend Daron passed, Rebecca and her teammates decided to create DIFD in her honor and help raise awareness for youth mental health. DIFD will have merchandise and resources available outside of section 18 and Sophie’s Squad will be outside of section 20. Tonight’s game is number 46 of 90 on the PWHL schedule which officially marks the start of the season’s second half.