Minnesota Frost clinch second-straight Walter Cup, defeat Ottawa Charge 2–1 in Game 4

The GIST: The Minnesota Frost remain the only team to hoist the Walter Cup after defeating the Ottawa Charge 2–1 in overtime (OT) during Monday’s PWHL Finals Game 4, clinching the title for the second straight year. Ice cold.

• With another successful campaign in the books, here’s a look at the PWHL’s sophomore season by the numbers, featuring everything from postseason highlights to future-looking fun.

1: Ottawa rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips needed just one season to win the Ilana Kloss playoff MVP Trophy. Though the Charge came up short in the ’ship, Philips made 257 saves in the postseason, allowing just 13 goals in eight games. No beginner’s luck here.

2: Not only are the Frost two-time defending champs — forward (and homegrown Minnesota legend) Liz Schepers made individual history, scoring the title-clinching goals last year and this year.

4: All four Finals games between the Frost and Charge went to OT (not to mention triple OT in Game 3) and ended in a 2–1 score, with Ottawa taking Game 1 before Minnesota rattled off three straight wins. Exhausted just thinking about it.

8: Two expansion teams — Vancouver and Seattle — will join the fold next season, bringing the total number of PWHL teams to eight and expanding the league’s footprint to the West Coast.

12: And on that note, there are just 12 days until the first-ever PWHL Expansion Draft on June 9th, but first, the league’s original six squads will reveal their three-member protected player lists on June 3rd. Stay tuned.