Minnesota's Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) team began their postseason defense of the Walter Cup under their new Frost moniker on Wednesday, but fell short 3-2 against the Toronto Sceptres in the first game of round one.

Feelings of relief quickly gave way to pride as Kendall Coyne Schofield assessed how the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost refused to let their PWHL season end with a whimper. The Frost earned a return to the postseason by winning their final two games to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth by the slimmest of margins in a race Minnesota,

In an attempt to innovate, the young Professional Women’s Hockey League allows the top-seeded team in its four-team playoffs to choose its first-round opponent. A year ago, Toronto chose a fourth-seeded Minnesota team that had lost its final five regular-season games,