The defending champion Minnesota Frost punched their ticket to the 2025 PWHL Finals on Wednesday, keeping their dream of a second-straight Walter Cup alive by repeating semifinals history.
For the second year in a row, the lower-seeded Frost eliminated the Toronto Sceptres from the PWHL semis, adding Wednesday's 4-3 Game 4 overtime win to take the pair's 2025 best-of-five semifinal series 3-1.
Handing the No. 2-seed Sceptres an especially hefty dose of déjà vu was No. 4-seed Frost forward Taylor Heise, who netted the series-clinching goal to oust Toronto for second straight postseason.
With Wednesday's game-winning goal plus six assists across Minnesota's four semifinal clashes, the reigning Playoff MVP's seven points currently leads the 2025 PWHL postseason stat sheet — where an astounding seven of the league's top eight points-getters hail from the Frost.
Unlike Minnesota's 2024 semifinal series with Toronto, which required a full five games, the Frost completed the job early this year, earning some extra rest as they await the winner of the other 2025 semi.
Ottawa takes charge as Montréal faces elimination
Unlike the record-setting scoring that defined Minnesota and Toronto's series, defense owns the spotlight in the second set of semifinals, where the top-seeded Montréal Victoire are facing elimination, entering Friday's Game 4 against the No. 3-seed Ottawa Charge in a 2-1 series deficit.
At the center of Ottawa's success is rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips, who stepped up in a big way after the Charge lost first-string goalie Emerance Maschmeyer to injury in March.
Since then, the third-round pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft has put together a star turn, becoming one of three 2025 Goaltender of the Year finalists and leading all postseason netminders with the top save percentage and an astoundingly low 1.18 goals-against average.
Additionally, Philips owns the only shutout of the 2025 Playoffs so far, with Tuesday's 1-0 Game 3 win over the Victoire also registering as the first postseason clean sheet by a rookie in PWHL history.
"I'm getting more comfortable and gaining confidence because I can feel that my teammates are feeling a little bit more confident with me. That's been my key to success," said Philips after Tuesday's shutout victory. "It's just knowing how much I trust my teammates and how much they give it back to me."
How to watch Ottawa vs. Montréal in the 2025 PWHL Semifinals
While the Charge aims to follow in the Frost's footsteps by booking a 2025 PWHL Finals spot in Game 4, Montréal will be hoping for a victory to send the series to a winner-take-all Game 5.
The puck drops on Friday's Game 4 at 7 PM ET, with a potential Game 5 decider set for the same time on Sunday.
Coverage of all PWHL Playoff games will stream live on YouTube.
The Minnesota Frost offense is ruling the ice, as record-setting scoring has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of returning to the Walter Cup finals, entering Wednesday's Game 4 on a 2-1 series lead over the Toronto Sceptres in the best-of-five semifinals.
Just two days after No. 4-seed Minnesota leveled the series with a 5-3 Friday win — recording the most combined goals ever scored in a PWHL Playoff game — the Frost found yet another gear, winning the highest scoring game in the second-year league's history in Sunday’s 7-5 Game 3 defeat of No. 2-seed Toronto.
In Sunday's barnburner, 21 players earned points across the two teams, but it was Minnesota who claimed victory, never relinquishing their early lead after netting a trio of goals in the game's first eight minutes.
"Minnesota's a great team," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said after the loss. "If you're putting yourself in a situation where you've got to chase them, it's an uphill battle."
"I think it’s a fan's dream and a coach's nightmare, a 7-5 playoff game," said Minnesota boss Ken Klee. "We found a way to win and that's the most important thing."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Minnesota skaters now own the league's 2025 Playoffs stat sheet, with four Frost players topping the points race.
More eyebrow-raising, however, is that the league's postseason offensive leader is a defender, as the Frost's Lee Stecklein has burned up the ice with three goals and three assists in the playoffs so far.
Calling her "outstanding" and "world-class," Klee sang Stecklein's praises while acknowledging that the postseason means Minnesota must "find different ways to score goals and different people have to contribute."
"[Stecklein] knows that, she exemplifies that, and that's why she's one of our leaders and one of our best players."
How to watch Minnesota vs. Toronto in the PWHL Semifinals
The defending champion Frost will hope to secure their spot in the 2025 PWHL Finals while the Sceptres aim to stave off elimination in the pair's next semifinals game on Wednesday.
The puck drops on Game 4 of the best-of-five series at 7 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on the PWHL YouTube channel.
Top-seeded Montréal suffered a surprising loss in their first 2025 PWHL Playoffs game on Thursday, falling 3-2 to postseason debutant No. 3-seed Ottawa.
Despite a tense back-and-forth battle, Ottawa forward Shiann Darkangelo broke through with a third-period game-winning goal, pushing the Charge to an early lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.
The Victoire, who notably used their No. 1-seed advantage to handpick the Charge as their semis opponent, have yet to log a playoff win, adding Thursday's defeat to last season's first-round sweep by Boston.
Even so, Montréal is already viewing the loss as fuel to even the score this weekend.
"We outshot them, we had a lot of great opportunities. We were right there," said Victoire forward Laura Stacey. "If we can put that game together for a whole 60 minutes, it'll look scary I think."
Toronto takes Game 1 from defending champs Minnesota
In the PWHL's other semifinal matchup, No. 2-seed Toronto claimed a one-win advantage over No. 4-seed Minnesota on Wednesday, halting the defending champion Frost's late-season surge with a 3-2 Sceptres victory.
Captain Blayre Turnbull opened scoring in the first period, giving Toronto a lead that they never relinquished, while rookie Julia Gosling netted a second-period brace to secure the Sceptres' win.
Minnesota, acknowledging the tough road they face to return to the championship ice, has already set their eyes on Game 2.
"It's going to be a hard-fought series," said Frost head coach Ken Klee after the Frost's Game 1 loss. "We didn't get one tonight…[so now] we're looking forward to Friday."
How to watch the 2025 PWHL Playoffs this weekend
Toronto and Minnesota are back in action for Game 2 of their series at 7 PM ET on Friday, before traveling to St. Paul for Game 3 at 6 PM ET on Sunday.
Sunday will also see Montréal’s attempt to even their series with Ottawa, with the puck dropping on their Game 2 matchup at 2 PM ET.
All games will stream live on the PWHL YouTube channel.
The 2025 PWHL playoffs are officially set, with the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost punching their postseason tickets in Saturday's final regular-season games to join the first-place Montréal Victoire and second-place Toronto Sceptres in the second-year league's playoff bracket.
While third-place Ottawa secured their postseason spot with a 2-1 overtime victory over Toronto on Saturday, the reigning champion Minnesota Frost staged an improbable late-season surge to claim the fourth and final playoff berth.
Needing two wins in addition to two losses from either the Charge or the Boston Fleet for a chance to defend their 2024 title, Minnesota found another gear in the season's final week.
The Frost first defeated Ottawa 3-0 last Wednesday before handing a crumbling Fleet side an 8-1 Saturday thrashing, leapfrogging Boston to narrowly advance to the playoffs following an up-and-down regular season.
Minnesota's massive momentum grab directly affected this week's 2025 PWHL semifinals pairings.
As first-place finishers, the Victoire had the opportunity to choose their first-round opponent between the third- and fourth-place finishers — with Montréal opting out of facing the Frost to instead open the playoffs against the Charge.
"This group is hungry, and we're excited for the playoffs," said Victoire captain and the 2024/25 PWHL season's top goal scorer Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're pretty excited to start the playoffs at home, in front of our fans."
Also snagging home-ice advantage is second-place Toronto, who must now overcome Minnesota in their best-of-five semifinal series to earn a spot in the 2025 Walter Cup championship series.
How to watch the 2025 PWHL Playoffs
The puck drops on the 2025 PWHL Playoffs on Wednesday, when No. 2-seed Toronto and No. 4-seed Minnesota will meet on the ice at 7 PM ET.
Top-seeded Montréal's semifinal series against No. 3-seed Ottawa will begin at 7 PM ET on Thursday.
All games will stream live on the PWHL YouTube channel.