Minnesota Frost's Britta Curl-Salemme suspended for Game 2 of PWHL semifinals

Minnesota Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme will serve a suspension for "an illegal check to the head" that occurred during Game 1 of the PWHL semifinals, the league announced Monday.

Curl-Salemme earned a one-game suspension and will miss Game 2 against the Montreal Victoire on Tuesday. She was also fined $250 for "sending her opponent to the ice with a degree of violence that warrants supplemental discipline" during Game 1.

Curl-Salemme was also suspended a game during last year's playoffs, and twice before that. During that postseason, she was asked if she considered herself the "villain" of the PWHL.

"I'm sure some people think that. I try not to get too involved with the outside noise or perspectives. I don't think that's helpful to me," she said. "If that's the way it shakes out and I'm doing my job and doing what I am proud of, and the things I'm supposed to be doing, then that may be it. But, yeah, I'm not too worried about it."

Villain or not, Curl-Salemme has become one of the PWHL's top weapons. She was third in points in the league this year, behind her teammates Kelly Pannek and Taylor Heise.

Minnesota beat Montreal 5-4 in OT in Game 1. The Frost are seeking their third consecutive PWHL championship this season — no other team has won the Walter Cup yet.