Charge’s Gwyneth Philips named PWHL’s Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP

Gwyneth Philips has been named the 2025 Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP.

The Ottawa Charge netminder made 36 saves during their overtime loss to the Minnesota Frost in Game 4 of the PWHL finals on Monday night, dropping the best-of-five series 3-1.

“Right now the individual award is superseded by the team loss,” Philips said. “We were so close and we really wanted that, but my accomplishments are attributed to the players in front of me. So maybe tomorrow will be nicer, but I really wanted to win.”

She becomes the first player to claim the award from the losing side after Taylor Heise captured the honours last season during the Frost’s first championship run.

Philips came to Ottawa’s rescue when starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer was placed on long-term injured reserve on March 14, after suffering a lower-body injury.

The 25-year-old made 257-of-270 saves throughout the Charge’s playoff run, 109 more than the next closest goalie.

She also led the post-season with a .952 save percentage and a 1.23 goals-against average en route to their finals loss.

“Hats off to Ottawa. That was a helluva series,” Minnesota’s Liz Schepers, told The Associated Press.

All four games of the series were decided by 2-1 scores, and each of them in overtime, including the Frost’s triple-OT victory in Game 3 on Saturday. After losing Game 1 in Ottawa, the Frost responded with three straight wins.

Minnesota sneaked into the playoffs this year with an 8-1 win over Boston on the final day of the regular season. The win led to Ottawa, Minnesota and Boston finishing with 44 points each with the Fleet eliminated based on having fewer regulation wins.

“I think that’s the toughest part,” Charge captain Brianne Jenner said, referring to the upcoming losses. “That was a special run. And it’s going to sting for a while, for sure. But really, really proud of this group.”

With files from The Associated Press.