SAINT PAUL, MN (January 26, 2025) – Taylor Heise led a high-scoring matchup with two goals, including the game-winner, boosting the Minnesota Frost to a 5-2 win over the Boston Fleet at Xcel Energy Center. The Frost snapped a three-game losing streak while ending the Fleet’s two-game winning streak and five-game point streak. Minnesota’s top line was on fire this afternoon combining for seven points with Michela Cava and Kendall Coyne Schofield setting up both Heise goals, and the captain adding a tally of her own to take over the PWHL scoring lead. Rookies Brooke McQuigge and Katy Knoll provided the other Minnesota goals. Boston twice cut the deficit to one, when captain Hilary Knight scored a second period goal to make it 2-1, and Susanna Tapani scored in the third period to make it 3-2. Nicole Hensley recorded 26 saves on 28 shots in her third win in five starts. Emma Söderberg stopped 22 of 27 in her third start of the season. Minnesota is now tied with Montréal atop the PWHL standings with 23 points.
QUOTES
Minnesota forward Taylor Heise on her team’s sense of urgency today: “Even for the past three games we’ve had that, we’re not playing bad. No part of the last three games have been bad. We had battled, have been really good d-zone wise and getting shots off. I think today we were in the right spots offensively, and then defensively Nic (Nicole Hensley) stopped everything she needed to and we played well. You could feel that we had the energy and I’m hoping we continue to bring that every day.”
Minnesota Head Coach Ken Klee on his third line: “I mean they were good, especially our blue line with Katy (Knoll) centering Brooke (Bryant) and Boots (Claire Butorac) they were buzzing. The other lines were buzzing too, but I just thought they had a lot of jump, they were helping to create momentum not only for themselves but for other lines and we know that’s how the game works. We need to stack shifts together and that way when we do get fresh players on the ice we can show off our skills, and obviously Taylor made a couple of great shots, which was awesome.”
Frost forward Katy Knoll on scoring her first goal: “I would say it was a bit of a relief, I feel like I’ve been doing the right thing the last few games – as we all have – and I just hit a post or missed the net a little bit so to finally put that one in the back of the net was very exciting as you could tell by my reaction. Obviously, a great play by Soph (Sophie Jaques), I thought I may have been offside, but she kept it and made a great play.”
Fleet Captain Hilary Knight on the game overall: “We just beat ourselves. That’s what’s super frustrating. We gain momentum and then you know, this league is so tight, the margin of error is so small. When we don’t capitalize and continue that momentum it’s going to be really hard for us to win.”
NOTABLES
Minnesota has won all four games against Boston this season, however, this was the first matchup that did not end in a one-goal differential.
Kendall Coyne Schofield recorded the first three-point performance of her career (1G, 2A) and takes over sole possession of the PWHL scoring lead with 14 points (6G, 8A) in 14 games. This was the captain’s fourth multi-point game of the season while tying her inaugural season goal total.
Taylor Heise recorded her first two-goal game of the season and first since Game 1 of the PWHL Finals on May 19, 2024, against Boston. She scored for the first time in five games dating back to Jan. 8 against the Fleet when she also netted the game-winning goal. She is now tied for second in league scoring with 12 points in 13 games, including four goals which equals her rookie total.
Michela Cava recorded primary assists on both Heise goals. It was the Frost forward’s second multi-point game of the season and first time contributing two assists in a single game since Game 1 of the PWHL Finals when she also set up two Heise goals. Her stat line (5G, 3A) in 14 games equals her inaugural season totals across 24 games.
Brooke McQuigge recorded her third goal of the season and is tied for third among rookies in the category. The Frost fourth-round pick snapped a six-game pointless streak with her last goal scored against the Fleet on Jan. 2.
Katy Knoll recorded the first two points of her PWHL career. The Frost seventh-round pick notched her first point with a secondary assist on McQuigge’s goal, then scored on her seventh shot on goal in her 11th game of her rookie campaign.
Sophie Jaques’ two assists count as her second multi-point game of the season and brings her point total to eight (1G, 7A) in nine games for the Frost. She leads all active defenders with a points-per-game average of 0.89.
Hilary Knight recorded her second multi-point performance of the season following the Jan. 2 game against the Frost. The Fleet captain has recorded a point in all four games against Minnesota this season (3G, 3A) and leads her team in scoring with 10 points (5G, 5A) in 12 games.
Susanna Tapani has scored her last four goals in the third period including three against Minnesota. Her five goals in 12 games is a new career-high.
Alina Müller’s assist extended her point-streak to three consecutive games with one goal and four helpers recorded during the stretch. The Boston forward had not recorded a point in her first eight games of the season prior to the current streak.
Hannah Bilka’s helper moves her into second among rookies in assists with five and in points with eight in 12 games for Boston.
Mellissa Channell-Watkins has recorded an assist in all four games against Boston this season.
Klara Hymlarova was dominant in the face-off circle for the Frost, centering the team’s third line and winning nine of her career-high 11 draws.
Knight and Heise both set season-highs for shots on goal with seven apiece in today’s game. Knight leads the league with 45 shots, followed by Coyne Schofield with 43 and Heise with 42.
Minnesota has now won a league-high four games when being outshot by their opponent.
This was Boston’s largest regular-season loss since falling to Minnesota by a 4-0 score on Mar. 13, 2024.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Boston 0 1 1 - 2
Minnesota 2 1 2 – 5
1st Period-1, Minnesota, Heise 3 (Cava, Coyne Schofield), 11:04. 2, Minnesota, McQuigge 3 (Channell-Watkins, Knoll), 12:30. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-3, Boston, Knight 5 (Müller, Digirolamo), 10:54. 4, Minnesota, Heise 4 (Cava, Coyne Schofield), 12:43. Penalties-Curl-Salemme Min (elbowing), 12:58; Tapani Bos (interference), 15:20.
3rd Period-5, Boston, Tapani 5 (Bilka, Knight), 3:36. 6, Minnesota, Knoll 1 (Jaques), 5:54. 7, Minnesota, Coyne Schofield 6 (Jaques), 11:14. Penalties-Flaherty Min (interference), 7:02.
Shots on Goal-Boston 6-13-9-28. Minnesota 10-9-8-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Boston 0 / 3; Minnesota 0 / 1.
Goalies-Boston, Söderberg 0-2-1-0 (27 shots-22 saves). Minnesota, Hensley 3-1-1-0 (28 shots-26 saves).
A-7,838
THREE STARS
1. Taylor Heise (MIN) 2G
2. Michela Cava (MIN) 2A
3. Katy Knoll (MIN) 1G, 1A
STANDINGS
Minnesota (5-3-2-4) - 23 PTS – 1st Place (Tied)
Boston (3-2-2-5) - 15 PTS – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Minnesota: Tuesday, January 28 vs. Toronto at 6 p.m. CT
Boston: Friday, January 31 vs. New York at 7 p.m. ET