Minnesota Moves up to Second Place with 6-2 Win over New York
PWHL Minnesota Frost

Minnesota Moves up to Second Place with 6-2 Win over New York

Published on January 25, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Minnesota Frost News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - Nine different Frost players registered a one point as Minnesota continued their homestand Sunday afternoon at Grand Casino Arena with a 6-2 win against the New York Sirens to move up to second place in the PWHL standings. New York native Katy Knoll led the Frost offense with her second multi-goal performance of the season, extending Minnesota's lead in the second period and scoring an empty netter in the third. Taylor Heise kicked off the Frost's offensive flurry with a backhanded goal at 6:15 of the first period, and Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield followed 12 seconds later to set a new team record for the fastest two goals, just one second off the league record set Thursday by Vancouver against Toronto. Sirens rookie Kristýna Kaltounková cut the Frost lead in half when she delivered a wraparound goal for her ninth of the season. After Knoll's second period marker, Grace Zumwinkle went top shelf to push Minnesota to a 4-1 lead. Anna Bargman closed out New York's offensive attack 14:00 into the third, with Minnesota shutting the door with Knoll's empty-netter and alternate captain Kelly Pannek capitalizing on the power play at 18:40. Maddie Rooney turned away 25/27 to limit New York with her second-best save percentage of the season at .926. At the opposite end, Kayle Osborne stopped 21/26 in the loss.

All PWHL teams wrap up action before the league's first-ever Olympic break on Wednesday, Jan. 28. New York visits Boston for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop at the Tsongas Center, while Minnesota hosts Vancouver at Grand Casino Arena at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT in the league's final matchup of the first half of the season.

QUOTES

Frost Head Coach Ken Klee on Katy Knoll's evolution: "[Knoll's] game from the beginning of last season up to now is a night and day difference. She's become more confident and she brings physicality, skill and she can shoot the puck. She can play in the (defensive) zone, she's very reliable and she can play offensive. It's been great to see her develop as a second-year player, which is when you hope players will become more confident. Katy's really done a great job for us."

Minnesota Alternate Captain Kelly Pannek on changes in energy: "I think [Ken Klee] said it pretty well - sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. You try to control everything you can to set yourselves up for success in a game. Today was a great example of steamroll energy; it felt like everyone had it today. Overall, I think we've done well at keeping our energy up for a majority of games, especially looking back to our long road trip when I thought we brought as much energy as we could every game.'"

New York Head Coach Greg Fargo on this afternoon's match-up: "We made a couple of mistakes tonight that ended up in the back of our net. We had some great chances that we didn't cash in on, and that's the story of the game. Minnesota is a very strong team; they are buttoned up in their details so you're not going to get many freebies against them, and they keep coming in waves. They're well coached and were on their game tonight. We just didn't have our A-game."

Sirens Captain Micah Zandee-Hart on what she thought the Frost did to make it "tough" for New York: "They're a very connected team, and we've seen that on the stat sheet this year - they're able to capitalize on their chances. In hockey, sometimes when you make a mistake it goes unnoticed, but against a team like Minnesota, those mistakes get exposed. I think that happened to us a couple of times tonight, where it could have gone the other way. They're a team that capitalizes on their opportunities. When we were playing well, our exits out of the zone were strong and our neutral-zone transition was good. When we got into the offensive zone and were able to possess the puck, we generated some really good looks. We just weren't able to put more of those in the back of the net, but I thought we created a lot of chances when we had sustained offensive-zone possession."

NOTABLES

Minnesota scored six goals for the second time this season after reaching the total on Jan. 11 against Seattle. This marks just the third time any team has scored six times in a game this season.

The Frost beat the Sirens in regulation for the first time since Mar. 16, 2024, and were 0-2-2-4 against them since then. This is Minnesota's second straight win against New York following a 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 16.

The Sirens ended their team record seven-game point streak with their first regulation loss since facing Toronto in a 4-3 decision on Dec. 21 at Prudential Center.

The Frost have played five games in St. Paul this season where they have scored a combined 17 goals in their three wins and two goals in their two losses. They are unbeaten with six wins when leading after the first period.

Katy Knoll has now recorded two multi-goal games in her last four contests after previously scoring two against Seattle on Jan. 11. The New York native has now earned five of her six points this season, all goals, in games where Minnesota served as the home team and has more than doubled her point total of two (1G, 1A) in 21 games as a rookie.

Taylor Heise's goal extended her point streak to five consecutive games (2G, 6A) to tie her career-high from Dec. 4 to 28, 2024. The Minnesota-born forward is tied for the second-most points in the league with 14 (3G, 11A) in 14 games and has surpassed her point total of 13 (4G, 9A) in 19 games from the PWHL's inaugural season. She is now one point away from becoming just the fifth player in PWHL history to reach the 50-point milestone.

Kendall Coyne Schofield became the first player to record a double-digit goal total this season, marking her second consecutive season reaching the mark. The Frost captain and PWHL top scorer moved her point streak to five-straight games (3G, 4A) to tie her career-high from Mar. 5 to Apr. 18, 2024.

Grace Zumwinkle recorded her second multi-point game with a goal and an assist and has five points (3G, 2A) in her last four games. The Frost forward's goal was her sixth of the season, making her one of only 10 players to score more than 20 career goals.

Kelly Pannek extended her goal streak to three consecutive games, the longest of her career. The alternate captain's seven goals in 14 games are second most on the team and matches her combined total in 54 regular-season games over her first two PWHL seasons.

Kristýna Kaltounková and Casey O'Brien became the first rookies in the PWHL to reach double-digit point totals on the same play. The Czech forward and first overall pick scored her ninth goal of the season on one of her career-high nine shots on goal to extend her point streak to three, set up by the U.S.-born third overall pick who contributed her sixth assist of the season.

Anna Bargman became the fourth Sirens rookie to reach two goals this season, tallying twice in her last five games. The fifth-round pick filled in on the Sirens' first line for fellow rookie Anne Cherkowski, another two-goal scorer for the Sirens this season, who is out of the lineup day-to-day.

Maddie Rooney has given up two or fewer goals in five of six meetings with New York throughout her career. She faced the Sirens twice last season, surrendering only three goals across the two losses. The former UMD Bulldog made her first start, and win, since the Frost faced Seattle in a 6-4 win on Jan. 11.

Abby Hustler recorded her first multi-assist and second multi-point performance of the season with her last such game coming against Seattle on Jan. 11 where she totaled one goal and one assist. The Frost second-round pick now has five assists and seven points through 14 games this season, with more than half of her points (1G, 3A) earned at home in the Frost's last three home games.

Mae Batherson's two assists give the defender her first multi-point game since Dec. 21 against Ottawa (1G, 1A), also the last time she recorded points at home. She now has seven assists on the season through 14 games, second most among defenders in the league, and has tripled her point total in 14 games to the three points (3A) from her 25-game rookie season.

Kendall Cooper extended her assist lead among all PWHL defenders, tallying her eighth of the season. The Frost first-round pick added her fourth point in six games where Minnesota has been the home team, ending a three-game point drought.

Klára Hymlárová set a new career high in points with her second assist and third point of the season in her 14th game. The Czech national previously recorded two points (1G, 1A) across 29 games in her rookie season.

Maddi Wheeler tallied her first point on the road since her three-assist Sirens debut on Nov. 22 at Ottawa. The rookie forward totaled her sixth assist of the season and first point following a four-game pointless streak after New York hosted Montréal on Jan. 2.

Savannah Norcross tallied her first assist and second point of the season in her 15th game to double her points total from the last PWHL season she played in 2024, (1A) in 20 games.

Kayla Vespa recorded her career-high second assist of the season in her 15th game, putting her one point away from matching her career-high point total of three (2G, 1A) in 23 games during the PWHL's inaugural season.

Kayle Osborne returned to the Sirens crease after serving as backup on Jan. 20 to make her 14th start of the season. The five goals surrendered are the most in her PWHL career.

Taylor Girard missed her second game of the season for New York, serving the second of a four-game suspension.

THREE STARS

1. Maddie Rooney (MIN) 25/27 SV

2. Katy Knoll (MIN) 2G

3. Abby Hustler (MIN) 2A

STANDINGS

Minnesota: 25 PTS (6-2-3-3) - 2nd Place

New York: 23 PTS (7-0-2-6) - 4th Place

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

New York: Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Boston at 7 p.m. ET

Minnesota: Wednesday, Jan. 28 vs. Vancouver at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central