OTTAWA, ON – Britta Curl-Salemme scored late in the third period and again in overtime to lift the Minnesota Frost to a 2-1 series-tying win over the Ottawa Charge, silencing a sellout crowd of 8,206 fans on Thursday night at TD Place.
The score remained scoreless for most of regulation until Jocelyne Larocque broke the deadlock at 17:25 of the third period, giving Ottawa the lead. With 15 seconds left in regulation, and the Frost pressing on a power play with their net empty, Curl-Salemme scored the equalizer to send the game to overtime.
While both teams traded chances in extra time, it was Curl-Salemme who struck again––scoring with less than four minutes left in the first overtime frame–– to lift Minnesota to the win. Maddie Rooney made 37 saves on 38 shots in her third win of the postseason, while Gwyneth Philips turned aside 22 of 24 shots in her sixth start of the postseason. The loss was Ottawa’s first in four games on home ice this postseason.
Game Three of the best-of-five PWHL Finals, presented by Scotiabank, is set to take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET at Xcel Energy Center. 
QUOTES
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee: “They took it to us the first half. I think in the third period we finally got to our game. We started getting pucks in and playing the way we know we can play. It was a tight game, and we know it’s going to be tight and that’s what we’ve come to expect.”
Frost Goaltender Maddie Rooney: “I was seeing the puck well, but I thought the team did a great job trying up sticks in front of us and clearing out bodies in front of us making it easier to see. It just says a lot about our team being down and being able to tie it with 15 seconds left and getting the win in overtime.”
Charge goal scorer Jocelyne Larocque on getting the lead late in the game but losing it in the dying seconds: “It’s playoff hockey. If one goal against is going to get you down, I don’t think you’d make it this far in the playoffs. Before overtime, we just wanted to stick with it. We were happy with our play. We made a couple of adjustments and just wanted to keep the pressure on because we were playing some really good hockey.”
Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner on the feeling of seeing a victory slip away: “It’s frustrating, but this was a much better game for us than our first game and we can take a lot of confidence from the way that we played. We got back to our style tonight. We know it’s going to be a hard-fought series. We knew that coming into it. Yeah, we would have liked to close this one out for sure. But we’ll learn from it and we’re right in the battle and we’re having fun.”
NOTABLES
Britta Curl-Salemme scored her second and third goals of the postseason for her first multi-point performance of her postseason career. Two of her three playoff goals have come on the power play, making her the only skater to net multiple power play goals this postseason.
Curl-Salemme became the fourth player in PWHL history to score multiple goals—including the game-winner—in a single playoff game, joining Taylor Heise (May 17, 2024), Julia Gosling (May 7, 2025), and Michela Cava (May 11, 2025). She’s the first to accomplish the feat with an overtime winner.
Maddie Rooney’s 37 saves set a new career high and marked the first time the goaltender has made 30+ saves in a postseason contest. She’s now won all three of her postseason starts this year, matching her win total from last year’s playoffs in five starts.
Gwyneth Philips allowed more than one goal for the first time since Game 2 of the semifinals against Montréal—and the first time she’s done so at home this postseason.
Jocelyne Larocque scored her first goal of the season – and second of her PWHL career – for her first marker in a Charge uniform, and first-ever playoff goal. The defender has points in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Lee Stecklein tallied her fourth assist for her seventh point of the postseason and is tied for the lead in playoff scoring, alongside teammate Heise. The defender had nine points in 30 regular-season games, three of which came in Minnesota’s final two contests of the season.
Claire Thompson recorded her third and fourth assists of the postseason, earning her first multi-point postseason game of her career.
Mellissa Channell-Watkins tallied her fourth assist for her fifth point of the postseason and sits third among defenders in postseason scoring.
Rebecca Leslie tallied her third point of the postseason – matching her regular-season point tally through 27 games – and is riding a three-game point streak for the first time in her career. No PWHL player has ever had a four-game point streak in a single postseason.
Emily Clark fired a career playoff-high six shots on net in tonight’s game. Charge captain Brianne Jenner also fired five shots, which ties her career playoff record, after she also recorded five shots in Game 2 against Montréal – which went to 4OT.
Ottawa’s 16 second-period shots are the most shots recorded by any team in a single period this postseason and tied for fourth-most shots in a playoff period all-time.
Six of Ottawa’s nine postseason goals have been scored in the third period. During the regular season, only 29% of the Charge’s goals (21/71) came in the final frame.
Minnesota fired their first shot of the game at 6:32 in the first period, which is the team’s longest stretch without a shot to open a game this postseason.
Minnesota recorded three shots on net in the first period, tied for the lowest shot tally by any team this postseason. Minnesota’s nine shots on goal by the end of the second period is also tied for the lowest shot tally after two periods of play by any team this postseason.
This is the second game this postseason to remain scoreless after two periods. Only one game during the regular season – New York at Toronto on Jan. 12 – remained scoreless heading into the third period.
All six of Ottawa’s playoff games this season have been decided by exactly one goal. It is the longest streak of one-goal games within a single playoffs by a PWHL team all-time. In this year’s regular season, no team had a streak longer than four.
Ottawa outshot Minnesota for the first time this season through eight overall meetings. Ottawa’s 38 shots on net in tonight’s game are the team’s highest tally against Minnesota this season. 
Kateřina Mrázová missed today’s game for Ottawa due to a lower body injury. Taylor House stepped into the lineup in her absence.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Minnesota 0 0 1 1 – 2
Ottawa 0 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Vanišová Ott (holding), 4:32.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Savolainen Ott (illegal body checking), 9:09; Cava Min (tripping), 11:16; House Ott (tripping), 14:22.
3rd Period-1, Ottawa, Larocque 1 (Meixner, Leslie), 17:25. 2, Minnesota, Curl-Salemme 2 (Thompson, Stecklein), 19:44 (PP). Penalties-Thompson Min (interference), 1:42; Vanišová Ott (hooking), 6:34; Vanišová Ott (tripping), 19:23.
1st OT Period-3, Minnesota, Curl-Salemme 3 (Channell-Watkins, Thompson), 16:24. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Minnesota 3-6-10-5-24. Ottawa 8-16-6-8-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Minnesota 1 / 5; Ottawa 0 / 2.
Goalies-Minnesota, Rooney (38 shots-37 saves). Ottawa, Philips (24 shots-22 saves).
A-8,206 (sell-out)
THREE STARS
1. Britta Curl-Salemme (MIN) 2G
2. Maddie Rooney (MIN) 37/38 SV
3. Jocelyne Larocque (OTT) 1G
SERIES
Series tied 1-1
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Game 3: Saturday, May 24 at 5 p.m. ET (Xcel Energy Center)
