Seattle Torrent stuns Minnesota Frost with historic 13-3 blowout victory
The Torrent logged their first-ever victory against the Frost. Seattle was outscored 13-3 while losing all three prior meetings with Minnesota.
Hannah Murphy made 34 saves for Seattle.
Taylor Heise put the Frost on the board first. Ten minutes later, the puck came flying off the end boards and the only one on the ice who seemed to know where it was Seattle defender Aneta Tejralova, who tied the game.
Grace Zumwinkle put Minnesota back in front, then Seattle's Alex Carpenter and Gabrielle David scored 11 seconds apart to give their team a 3-2 lead.
Recent trade pickup Theresa Schafzahl screened Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley (23 saves) as the initial shot hit a body and dropped into the crease. Carpenter smacked it across the line and scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season.
In the past, Schafzahl said she didn't go to the net as much. "That's where, clearly, most of the goals are being scored," she said. "It's so much harder to stop the puck when the goalie can't see it. Honestly, I just gotta stand there."
Right off the ensuing faceoff, Hensley went behind the net to play the puck and handed it off to teammate Kendall Cooper. The short pass went off Cooper's skate and right to a waiting Natalie Snodgrass, who converted the turnover into a scoring chance.
It was David's first Torrent goal. She signed a PWHL Standard Player Agreement in March after her Swedish Women's Hockey League campaign ended. David, 26, was tied for second in league scoring with 42 points in 35 regular season games. The Drummondville, Quebec native was drafted in the ninth round of the inaugural PWHL draft and spent 26 games across two seasons with the Montréal Victoire before heading overseas.
Minnesota has already clinched a playoff spot and is locked into the No. 3 seed. It went into the second intermission tied thanks to Heise's second goal of the night. The Frost's only goal of the third period came with 13.9 seconds left in the game, after a lengthy scramble in front of a stickless Murphy.
In Seattle's most recent outing Saturday, the Vancouver Goldeneyes slipped in the tying goal with 1.6 seconds left in regulation. Frantic finishes, particularly at home, keep coach Steve O'Rourke's heart rate up. "It's nerve-wracking right to the end, especially when you've lost a few and we have given up a few," O'Rourke said. "So you don't breathe well until you finally shake the coach's hands at the end."
Wilgren scored her first Torrent goal on Saturday, followed closely by her second. After finding herself in front of a half-open net with the puck on her stick midway through Wednesday's third period, she now has three goals in two games. She chipped in two assists against the Frost for a three-point night.
O'Rourke theorized that stressing over how to make the cut for Team USA - she ultimately did not - might have affected Wilgren earlier in the season. "Once she got out of that, she could just become a Torrent for us and just do what she needs to do for us, which is (be) really a good player," he said.
Team USA captain Knight has goals in consecutive games.
Seattle entered the game trailing Vancouver in the "Gold Plan" standings 3-1, but pulled ahead 4-3. Both teams started accruing points after they were eliminated from the postseason. Seattle bowed out first and got a one-game head start, but lost to the Goldeneyes in overtime on April 18 and only picked up a single point.
Vancouver, meanwhile, beat Montreal in regulation for three on Tuesday. The New York Sirens were eliminated from the playoffs for a third straight season on Tuesday but don't play again until Saturday.
The team with the most draft order points will get the No. 1 pick in the 2026 PWHL Entry Draft. Seattle, Vancouver and New York all have one game left.
"That's something that is a big deal for Seattle's future, as well," forward Lily Delianedis (one assist) said.
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