Frost, Victoire open first playoff series at Place Bell — Lphf
lphf gets its first Minnesota Frost-Victoire de Montréal playoff series on Saturday, May 2, 2026, with Game 1 set for 14 h HE at Place Bell. The best-of-five Walter Cup semifinal pairs the league’s first-place team against the only other club that has reached the playoffs in all three PWHL seasons.
Poulin Returns For Montréal
Marie-Philip Poulin came back to the ice on Saturday and carried a five-game point streak into the series, with three goals and two assists over that span. She also produced five points in the regular-season set against Minnesota, even though she played only three games, and scored two overtime winners against the Frost.
Montréal’s captain gives the Victoire a direct edge in a matchup they handled all season. The Victoire won all four regular-season meetings, including 3-2 and 2-1 overtime decisions in January, a 4-0 win on March 1 in Montréal, and a 3-0 win on March 25 in Minnesota.
Minnesota’s Response
Kelly Pannek led Minnesota with 33 points in 30 games, while Kendall Coyne Schofield led the Frost head-to-head against Montréal with three points in two games. Minnesota enters the series at 13-3-5-9 with 50 points in third place, and it starts the playoffs on a four-game losing streak.
The Frost still brought the league’s most productive offense into the bracket and scored at least two goals in 13 of their 15 road games this season. They also scored at least two goals in each of their last six road games, with their lone road game below that mark since New Year’s Day coming in Montréal on March 1.
Place Bell History
Montréal enters at 16-6-2-6 with 62 points in first place, and Abby Roque led the Victoire with 22 points in 29 games. The club averaged 29.8 shots on goal per game and allowed 25.2, numbers that helped make it one of the league’s hardest teams to generate against.
The first two games stay in Montréal, with Game 2 scheduled for May 5 and Game 3 set for May 7 in Minnesota. Games 4 and 5 remain to be determined, and the series opens at a rink where Montréal also won a quadruple-overtime playoff game on May 11, 2025, the longest game in league history.
