Roese nets OT winner as Frost steal Game 1 from Victoire in PWHL playoff opener

LAVAL — Jincy Roese had the puck at the top of the zone, and worked to get to the centre of the ice. When she saw Laura Stacey, who had three goals already, and Abby Roque in front of her, she had one thought.

“This puck needs to get through.”

It did, and the 28-year-old Minnesota Frost defender scored her first career Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff goal 4:30 into overtime as the Frost defeated the Montreal Victoire 5-4 in Game 1 of their semifinal series on Saturday.

The shot hit Montreal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens and trickled over the line.

Roese was acquired by Minnesota at the trade deadline from the New York Sirens on March 30. It was her first goal in seven games with the team.

“She’s an elite skater, she can play any role we need her to play,” said Minnesota coach Ken Klee. “That’s what we thought bringing her in and she’s been as advertised. Obviously, a huge goal for her tonight.”

The win at Place Bell gives Minnesota a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-five series, taking home-ice advantage away from the regular-season champion Victoire. It is the third straight year that the Victoire lose home-ice advantage in Game 1 of their first-round series. The loss is their seventh in eight playoff games over three seasons, four of which have come at home.

“The past is the past,” said Stacey, who has been a part of all three Montreal teams. “I know we talked in this room a million times about what happened the past two years, but the past two years are over. We’re here right now.”

Katy Knoll, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, and Sidney Morin also scored for the defending Walter Cup champion Frost. Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek and Klara Hymlarova had two assists each, while Maddie Rooney made 21 saves as she extended a personal six-game playoff winning streak.

Laura Stacey, with a hat trick, and Shiann Darkangelo scored for Montreal. Desbiens made 24 saves. Marie-Philip Poulin and Abby Roque each had two assists.

The game really turned up a notch in the second period as seven of the nine goals in the game were scored after the opening 20 minutes.

With 47.1 seconds left in the second, with Minnesota holding a 3-2 lead, Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme was called for a hit to the head of Kaitlin Willoughby and was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct.

Curl was third in PWHL scoring this season and has already received supplemental discipline four times in her two years in the league, including a one-game suspension during last season’s playoffs.

“The league’s going to make their call and then we’ll react,” said Klee. “We kind of shuffled our lines a bit when she went out and obviously our ladies know it’s next player up kind of mentality. We rely on everybody.”

The ensuing power play bled into the third period, leading to a wild sequence of three goals in 1:50 in the first five minutes of the frame.

Stacey tied the game at 3-3 with a shot from the right circle, but Minnesota answered right back, with Morin scoring a short-handed goal with a shot from the top of the circles that went five-hole on Desbiens. It was the second time Minnesota scored while a Montreal goal was being announced.

After Morin took a penalty on the ensuing shift, Stacey completed the hat trick when she charged the net to put home a rebound in the crease into the open net. It was her second power-play goal of the game.

Minnesota opened the scoring with two goals in the first period from Knoll and Coyne Schofield.

The Victoire only had five shots in the first period where they fell behind 2-0.

“Early in a game, teams are willing and eager to play defence,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “Gaps are tight, they’re tracking hard. You have to really earn your game.”

“We can’t control necessarily how the outcome of our start goes,” said Stacey. “What we can control is those little details, those little efforts that make that first five minutes of the game extremely difficult to play against.”

Montreal cut the deficit to 2-1 when Darkangelo scored 2:45 into the second period.

Stacey tied the game when she scored on a wraparound with 2:11 remaining, sneaking the puck past Rooney.

Just 46 seconds after Montreal made the game 2-2, Zumwinkle picked up a loose bouncing puck and fired a shot over Desbiens to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.

Game 2 will be played on Tuesday night at Place Bell.

“It’s a five-game series for a reason,” said Stacey. “They’re a good team, we’re a good team. At the end of the day, we just need to find a way to win.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2026.

Jared Book, The Canadian Press