Montreal Victoire Selects Minnesota Frost for PWHL Semifinals

Montreal Victoire, the Professional Women's Hockey League's regular-season champion, selected the two-time defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost as their semifinal opponent, setting up the playoff bracket on Sunday night. The best-of-five series begins Saturday at Place Bell in Montreal, while the other matchup pits the second-place Boston Fleet against the fourth-place Ottawa Charge, starting Thursday at the Tsongas Center in Boston.

The Victoire finished the season with 62 points, tied with Boston but securing first place on the tiebreaker of 22 wins to the Fleet's 21. Under league rules established since the PWHL's launch three years ago, the top team chooses its first-round foe from among the third- and fourth-place teams. Montreal's decision avoided a rematch with Ottawa, whom they faced in last year's semifinals, a grueling four-game series where all contests were decided by one goal, including a 3-2 Victoire victory that extended to four overtime periods.

This season, Montreal dominated Minnesota, winning all four head-to-head games, two in overtime. The Victoire boasted the league's stingiest defense, allowing just 41 goals, while scoring 78 for second place...