Clark’s OT goal sinks Frost in Walter Cup Final opener

To date the Minnesota Frost have won every playoff round they have been a part of and have done so without ever winning the opening match of a series If history is to repeat itself the Frost are perfectly positioned as the Ottawa Charge stayed undefeated at home in the playoffs getting an overtime goal from Emily Clark to beat Minnesota - and take a - lead in the best-of-five Walter Cup Final After Minnesota dominated the third period and the early stretches of overtime Clark picked up an ill-advised Frost drop pass in the defensive zone and went coast-to-coast beating Frost goalie Nicole Hensley by finding a tiny gap between the netminder and the near post Klara Hymlarova scored the only goal for the Frost who out-shot Ottawa - for the competition They got saves from Hensley in the loss We started well We had a little bit of a lull I felt like in the first but then I liked our second and third Frost coach Ken Klee explained We know it s going to be a tight series They re a good unit Goals are going to come at a premium and obviously they got one more than us tonight Event of the series is Thursday evening in Ottawa The scoreless first period was a tale of two nations as the Frost dominated early and got the challenge s first power play but were unable to capitalize with the extra participant Ottawa went on the power play later when Michaela Cava pulled down her former Minnesota Duluth teammate Gabbie Hughes and the Charge pelted Hensley with a quartet of shots on the advantage but were also held off the scoreboard The period ended with Ottawa holding a - shots lead Again in the second Minnesota was the early aggressor with Denisa Krizova s solo rush to the net ending with a backhand shot sliding just wide of the far post and Kendall Coyne Schofield getting tripped up on a -on- rush to the net drawing the Frost s second power play They tested Gwyneth Phillips several times but again failed to amount on the advantage Just seconds after Ottawa got back to five-on-five hockey Rebecca Leslie threaded a shot through a crowd in front of Hensley for the first goal of the Final The second period ended with Ottawa up - and on the power play although Minnesota had locked things down defensively and allowed the Charge little offense with the extra skater Ottawa is a great organization a fast gang physical and relentless so we were prepared for that Frost defender Lee Stecklein stated We ve faced teams like them all season so nothing crazy We just have to stick to our competition and find a way to get the puck in the net Phillps propensity to range far beyond her crease came back to bite Ottawa early in the third as the Frost pulled even Katy Knoll pulled the puck off the wall in the corner while Phillips scrambled to get back into position Knoll zipped a cross-zone pass to Hymlarova who caught the puck in her skates pushed it ahead to her stick and popped a backhand shot into the mostly empty net a half-second before Phillips could get back to the crease It was a rare mistake by the Charge and the first goal of the playoffs for Hymlarova which swung the momentum to Minnesota s side The Frost dominated the final period of regulation out-shooting Ottawa - and forcing Phillips into several high-danger saves before the tournament went to overtime We knew to expect a close battle and of program the first one goes to overtime commented Stecklein I like the way we played Unfortunately it didn t go our way tonight but we have a day to reset and get ready for Contest Minnesota won playoff rounds versus Toronto and Boston after losing the opening encounter in both series This season the Frost dispatched Toronto in the PWHL semifinal round after falling in the series opener Phillips finished with saves for Ottawa which improved to - at home in the playoffs Rebecca Leslie scores on Nicole Hensley of the Minnesota Frost in the second period during Contest One of the PWHL Finals at The Arena at TD Place on May in Ottawa Ontario Photo by Troy Parla Getty Images Minnesota Frost forward Michela Cava is stopped by Ottawa Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips during second period PWHL final action Tuesday May in Ottawa Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press via AP