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Kelly Pannek delivered two goals and two assists, boosting her league-leading points tally and helping the Minnesota Frost edge the Vancouver Goldeneyes 6-5 on Saturday. The two-time defending champions snapped a three-game losing streak and secured a spot in the playoffs.
Pannek scored twice on power plays in the third period, lifting Minnesota to a 6-4 lead. She now leads the PWHL with 14 goals and 28 points, with five games remaining in the regular season. For context, Pannek had just seven goals across her first two PWHL seasons.
Vancouver struck first when Sarah Nurse redirected a shot from former Frost standout Sophie Jaques just 1:18 into the game, marking the Goldeneyes’ earliest goal this season. Vancouver had won all five prior games in which they scored first.
Pannek soon responded by threading a no-look backward pass to Grace Zumwinkle, who scored her career-high 12th goal to tie the game 1-1 at 9:05. Pannek’s 14 assists this season is also a personal best. Minnesota then took a 2-1 lead late in the first period on Katy Knoll’s seventh goal, assisted by Lee Stecklein and Pannek.
But Vancouver fought back. Tereza Vanišová scored one-on-one against Frost goalie Nicole Hensley to tie the game, and Jaques netted a power-play goal to give her team a 3-2 lead, as the teams combined for three goals in just 40 seconds.
Jenn Gardiner extended the Goldeneyes’ lead to 4-2 early in the second period with her fourth goal of the season. Minnesota quickly rallied as Mae Batherson scored her third goal, followed by Taylor Heise’s 10th on a power play to level the score 4-4 at 13:25.
Pannek then put Minnesota ahead 5-4 early in the third period, assisted by Heise’s career-high 16th assist and rookie Kendall Cooper’s 14th. She added an insurance power-play goal with 6:16 remaining. Vancouver’s Izzy Daniel scored her seventh goal with 53 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap.
Nicole Hensley made 20 saves for Minnesota, while Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 29 shots for Vancouver.
Looking ahead, Vancouver will host the Boston Fleet on Tuesday, and Minnesota will face the New York Sirens on Saturday.
