On 15 March 2026, the PWHL’s Takeover tour returned to Denver, CO for a contest between the (at puck-drop) 5th place New York Sirens and the 3rd place Minnesota Frost. New York carried an 8-0-3-8 (27p and 47.4p%) into the game against Minnesota’s 8-3-3-4 (33p and 61.1p%). Sitting just one point out of the league’s last playoff spot, this served as an important game for a Sirens team that has been more competitive than past seasons despite an effective record of 8-11. The Frost, in a completely different situation, saw a Montréal overtime loss as an opportunity to leap up to second in the league. New York went with Kayle Osborne in goal, while Minnesota opted for Nicole Hensley.

The Sirens got off to a less than ideal start as Kristýna Kaltounková put the Frost on the power play within the first thirty seconds of the game, with Jaime Bourbonnais joining her eighty seconds later. The Frost hammered the shot board early with the advantage, but Osborne managed to keep the game scoreless through the opening five minutes. Back at even strength, the Sirens responded with some shot generation of their own, especially in the ninth minute as Kaltounková and Paetyn Levis applied pressure. However, Hensley was up to the task, and the Frost broke through on a goal from Grace Zumwinkle just seconds past the midway point in the period. Both teams traded opportunities in the back half of the period, and despite Allyson Simpson putting Minnesota back on the power play in the sixteenth minute of the period, the Sirens made it to the intermission only down a goal. Minnesota led the shot totals 9-8.

Taylor Heise opened the second period with a goal twenty-two seconds in, and the Frost applied pressure immediately after, but Osborne held her ground for the time being. In the third minute, New York’s second line established steady attacking zone time, but were unable to get anything past Hensley. For a brief moment, the pace of the game slowed before the Frost extended their lead to 3-0 on a goal scored exactly eight minutes after Heise’s. In the Sirens’ response to the goal, Claire Butorac went to the box for tripping, giving New York their first woman advantage of the game, but they were unable to create anything substantial with it. Back at five-on-five, Zumwinkle netted her second goal of the game to extend the lead to 4-0, and seemingly put the game out of reach. Zumwinkle would take a tripping penalty in the seventeenth minute of the period, but once again the Minnesota penalty kill stifled New York. Minnesota once again led on the short board 13-10.

In the fourth minute of third period Kaltounková returned to the penalty box on a roughing call, but before Minnesota could inflict more damage, Kelly Pannek brought the game to four-on-four. The game receded to back-and-forth chip-ins as Minnesota was keen on shot blocking, but neither team generated anything significant. A dustup between New York’s Lauren Bernard and Minnesota’s Abby Hustler ended in another woman-power advantage for the Sirens, and this time, they were effective. Anna Bargman put a puck past Hensley in the thirteen minute to close the gap to 4-1. Off the faceoff, Heise attempted to extend the lead back to four with a quick shot on Osborne, but the Sirens sent the puck back the other way where Levis scored New York’s second goal in 1:16. The momentum continued to tilt in the Sirens favor when Élizabeth Giguère went to the box for a hook less than two minutes after the second goal. Ninety seconds into the advantage, Simpson put another puck past Hensley, bringing the Sirens within one goal of Minnesota, the score now 4-3. Osborne was pulled at the start of the nineteenth minute, but Minnesota’s experience with leads late in games was critical. The Frost did not surrender another shot on goal and secured the regulation win. The final shot total for the game was 28-26 in favor of Minnesota.

Overall, Minnesota played forty-two great minutes of hockey. Their best players once again were their best players, with Zumwinkle and Heise controlling the momentum and scoring the most important goals. As has been the case every year during the regular season, Hensley and Rooney are incredibly talented goalies, but for some reason that eludes me, when momentum shifts against them opposing teams are able to pile on 2+ goals in short windows of time. Historically, this has been fixed in the postseason, but it is the biggest area of concern for this group on a nightly basis. New York’s defense failed them again. Since 20 January, the Sirens have surrendered at least 4 goals in 5 of their last 7 contests, going 1-0-2-4 in that stretch, and slumping down the standings. I’m not really sure what coach Fargo can do to reverse this trend, but he has to figure something out. Losing Taylor Girard to injury in this game hurts their depth, and with ten games left in the season, they’re running out of time to fix this.

• Christian