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,

The PWHL playoffs were set on Sunday and the Minnesota Frost, who snuck into the tournament thanks to back-to-back wins to close the regular season, are the No. 4 seed and will face the second-seeded Toronto Sceptres in the first round.