SAINT PAUL, MN (January 28, 2025) – Claire Thompson celebrated her 27th birthday by leading the Minnesota Frost to a 4-3 shootout win over the Toronto Sceptres on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota defender scored twice and added an assist in regulation before netting the shootout winner to lift the Frost into first place in the standings with 25 points, two points ahead of Montréal, heading into the International Break. Five of the game’s six goals were scored on the power play, including Michela Cava’s opening tally for Minnesota early in the first period. The teams alternated scoring throughout the contest with Toronto goals from Sarah Nurse, Jesse Compher and Renata Fast to tie the game in the first period and twice in the third. All three Sceptres goal scorers recorded multi-point performances, led by Fast with a career-high three points. Taylor Heise had two assists for the Frost— her second-straight multi-point game. Maddie Rooney had 24 saves and is now tied for most wins in the league at six. Rookie Raygan Kirk stopped 26 shots in defeat.
QUOTES
Minnesota defender Claire Thompson on having a big night on her birthday: “It feels great, it was definitely a lot of fun in the game and I’m happy with the two points tonight. It was getting opportunities to shoot the puck, and the power play was doing really well, and it was the playmaking ability of my teammates.”
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on Thompson’s impact: “She's been outstanding, she’s obviously a tremendous puck mover, great skater and sees the ice well. She’s a phenomenal person and I think we had a good idea of that when we brought her in and talked to people. She’s just a great add for us. We want to be a puck possession team and we want to make plays and I think that fits her style really well, so it’s been an awesome add for us.”
Toronto forward Jesse Compher on how the team battled: “I think we talked about it a little bit in the locker room. Obviously, they scored first, we answered back. Kind of happened for all three of their goals so I think that we came back after all three of their goals and just competed and put ourselves in a good position to come back and win that hockey game, so we were proud of that.”
Sceptres Head Coach Troy Ryan on his team’s game: “Bit of a sloppy start for us. Our puck management wasn’t good, but as Compher said, showed some character to fight back and to find ways to tie it back up after goals against. Obviously liked the power play as well, finding ways to score some goals on the power play is going to be key to our success moving forward.”
NOTABLES
The five power play goals scored between the two teams is the most in a single game in PWHL history. The previous record was four in a game between Montréal (3) and Minnesota (1) on Apr. 18, 2024. Four different games this season have had three power play goals.
Toronto scored three power play goals for the first time in team history. Their 75% efficiency tonight (3/4) moved them from fifth (18.2%) to second (24.3%) in overall power play percentage.
Minnesota scored two power play goals for the second time this season (Dec. 19). Their 40% efficiency tonight (2/5) increased their season conversion rate from 18.4% to 20.9% while maintaining their fourth overall ranking.
Toronto became the first team this season to erase three different one-goal deficits. The only other time in PWHL history this occurred was last season, when Minnesota mounted three different comebacks against Toronto before falling 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 27, 2024.
Claire Thompson recorded her first career multi-goal game and third career multi-point game. The power play goal was the first of her career followed by the only even-strength goal of the game. The defender has 14 points (3G, 11A) in 15 games and is tied for first in league scoring with teammates Kendall Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise. Thompson’s 11 assists are tops in the PWHL.
Thompson’s shootout goal was her first scored on her second attempt of the season. The Frost also got a shootout goal from Britta Curl-Salemme who went 1-for-2 for the second time this season. Toronto got a shootout goal from Sarah Nurse who scored for the first time in two career attempts.
Michela Cava has set a new career-high for both goals (6) and points (9) through 15 games and enters the break on a two-game point streak (1G, 2A). She finished the inaugural season with eight points (5G, 3A) in 24 games. Cava’s goal was her second scored on the power play this season and moves her into a tie for first overall in goals.
Heise has set a new career-high for both assists (10) and points (14) through 15 games and enters the break on a two-game point streak (2G, 2A). She recorded 13 points (4G, 9A) in 19 games as a rookie last season. This was Heise’s fourth multi-point performance of the season and third with two assists.
Renata Fast scored her first goal of the season and, with her two assists, recorded the first three-point game of her PWHL career. The defender reclaims her team lead in points with 11 (1G, 10A) in 13 games. Her 10 assists match her inaugural season total in 24 games.
Fast now leads the league in power play points (7) and assists (6).
Nurse scored for the second straight game with her league-leading third power play goal of the season. She added an assist for her second multi-point game of the season and is tied for second in team scoring with 10 points (5G, 5A) in 13 games.
Jesse Compher scored a goal and an assist, extending her point streak to three games (1G, 3A). The goal was her fourth of the season and the first of her career scored on the power play. The assist was her fifth of the season and surpassed her inaugural season total of four. This was Compher’s second multi-point game of the season.
Daryl Watts tallied an assist for the second straight game to bring her season total to six, one shy of her inaugural season total in 24 games with Ottawa.
Hannah Miller contributed an assist and has three points in her last two games (2G, 1A). She is tied with Nurse for second in Sceptres scoring with 10 points (6G, 4A) in 13 games.
Brooke McQuigge recorded the first assist of her PWHL career and has points in two straight games (1G, 1A).
Izzy Daniel played her first professional game in Minnesota. The Minneapolis native recorded 16:00 minutes in ice time with two shots on goal. She also had a shootout attempt for the Sceptres.
Raygan Kirk made her second consecutive start in goal for the Sceptres and appeared in her first PWHL shootout.
Coyne Schofield, Heise, and Nurse are in a three-way tie for league lead in shots with 46. Nurse led the game’s shot count with six while Heise led Minnesota’s with four.
Thompson led all skaters in time on ice at 24:27. Kali Flanagan led Toronto skaters at 23:24.
Minnesota has won six out of eight games this season when they score the game’s first goal.
Toronto broke their three-game streak of 35 shots or more with 27 shots in the game. The Sceptres have lost all five games this season when being outshot by their opponent.
Both teams’ penalty kill efficiencies took a hit tonight with Minnesota dropping from 77.4% to 71.4% on the season, and Toronto dropping from 72.7% to 71.1%. They entered the game ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the category.
Minnesota played in their league-leading third shootout of the season (2-1). The Frost also lead the league with six decisions beyond regulation (4-2).
This was Toronto’s first shootout of the season. The Sceptres have yet to win a game beyond regulation during the 2024-25 campaign (0-3).
SCORESHEET RECAP
Toronto 1 0 2 0 - 3
Minnesota 1 1 1 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Minnesota, Cava 6 (Thompson, Heise), 3:40 (PP). 2, Toronto, Nurse 5 (Watts, Fast), 13:04 (PP). Penalties-Fast Tor (boarding), 2:45; Bryant Min (too many players), 12:44; MacKinnon Tor (hooking), 15:50.
2nd Period-3, Minnesota, Thompson 2 (Heise, McQuigge), 8:50 (PP). Penalties-Pannek Min (hooking), 6:12; Watts Tor (hooking), 7:25.
3rd Period-4, Toronto, Compher 4 (Nurse, Fast), 4:12 (PP). 5, Minnesota, Thompson 3 10:21. 6, Toronto, Fast 1 (Compher, Miller), 11:55 (PP). Penalties-Nurse Tor (ob-tripping), 1:53; Pannek Min (hooking), 3:32; Stecklein Min (tripping), 11:01; Carter Tor (illegal body checking), 13:31.
1st OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout - Toronto 1 (Miller NG, Daniel NG, Nurse G, Watts NG, Compher NG), Minnesota 2 (Curl-Salemme G, McQuigge NG, Heise NG, Thompson G, Curl-Salemme NG).
Shots on Goal-Toronto 7-11-8-1-0-27. Minnesota 13-9-4-3-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 3 / 4; Minnesota 2 / 5.
Goalies-Toronto, Kirk 2-1-1-1 (29 shots-26 saves). Minnesota, Rooney 6-2-0-1 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-4,540
THREE STARS
1. Claire Thompson (MIN) 2G, 1A
2. Maddie Rooney (MIN) 24/27 SV
3. Renata Fast (TOR) 1G, 2A
STANDINGS
Minnesota (5-4-2-4) - 25 PTS – 1st Place
Toronto (4-0-3-6) - 15 PTS – 5th Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Toronto: Thursday, January 30 at Montréal at 7 p.m. ET
Minnesota: Tuesday, February 11 at Toronto at 7 p.m. ET