TORONTO (AP) — Julia Gosling scored twice in a 1:55 span in the second period and the Toronto Sceptres beat the defending champion Minnesota Frost 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the PWHL semifinal series.
Gosling made it 2-0 at 7:47 and struck again at 9:42 on a power play.
“Just the way we were playing and the way our lines were changing, I think it just put me in a great spot to get that opportunity and then just use my shot,” Gosling said. "It was just super fun to get it done at home.”
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday night in Toronto.
Blayre Turnbull opened the scoring midway through the first, and Kristen Campbell stopped 24 shots for Toronto.
“I think the biggest takeaway for us is if you play the right way, chances are you’ll get rewarded,” Sceptres coach Troy Ryan said. “I thought we played responsible defensively, responsible physically, and some timely offence as well.”
Britta Curl-Salemme scored for Minnesota on a power play with 6:04 left in the second, and Katy Knoll made it a one-goal game at 2:33 of the third. Nicole Hensley made 34 saves for the Frost.
“We knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy and play hard,” Minnesota coach Ken Klee said. “And obviously, spotting them a 3-0 lead is a tough spot to be. But I loved the way our team responded. We didn’t quit.”
Minnesota won its final two regular-season games to take the fourth and final playoff position.
Curl-Salemme received a game misconduct for hitting Toronto defender Renata Fast in the head with 5:23 ;eft. Fast remained in the game.
“I thought it was a pretty ugly hit and I think the refs made the right call,” Turnbull said.
AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Minnesota Frost's Britta Curl-Salemme leaves the ice after receiving a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct following a hit on Toronto Sceptres' Renata Fast during second period PWHL playoff action in Toronto, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Renata Fast reacts after a hit from Minnesota Frost's Britta Curl-Salemme during second period PWHL playoff action in Toronto, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres players celebrate a goal against the Minnesota Frost during the second period of an PWHL hockey playoff game in Toronto on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss investigators believe sparkling flares atop Champagne bottles started a fire in a bar at an Alpine ski resort that left 40 people dead and another 119 injured during a New Year’s celebration.
Most injuries, many of them serious, occurred when the blaze swept through the crowded bar in southwestern Switzerland in the early hours of Thursday.
The investigation will look at safety measures in the bar, its license and capacity, Valais canton Attorney General Béatrice Pilloud said Friday.
She also said the question of criminal liability among individuals would be examined.
The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue. Overnight, the Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.
Here’s what we know:
The blaze broke out around 1:30 a.m. Thursday during a holiday celebration inside the Le Constellation bar.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female colleague on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster.
People tried to escape from a nightclub area in the basement, up a flight of stairs and through a narrow door, causing a crowd surge, one of the women said.
A young man at the scene said people smashed windows to escape, reported BFMTV. He said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames.
Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation, rushed to help first responders after receiving a call from a friend who escaped the inferno. He described a scene of people trapped on the ground, severely injured and burned.
“I have seen horror and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Campolo told French broadcaster TF1.
Investigators will examine whether sparklers were permitted for use in the bar. They will also look at the safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers, escape routes, and compliance with regulations, Pilloud, the Valais attorney general, said.
She also warned of possible prosecutions if there was any criminal liability involving individuals.
“If this is indeed the case and these individuals are still alive, an investigation will be opened against them for negligent arson, negligent homicide, and negligent bodily harm," Pilloud said.
Swiss officials described the blaze as a likely flashover, meaning that it triggered the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently.
The injured suffered from serious burns and smoke inhalation. Some were flown to specialist hospitals across the country and elsewhere in Europe.
Authorities urged people to show caution in the coming days to avoid any incidents that could require the already overwhelmed medical resources.
Out of the 119 injured, 113 have now been identified, officials said Friday.
The severity of the burns has made it very difficult to identify bodies, bringing fresh agony for families who now must hand over DNA samples to authorities. In some cases, wallets and any ID documents inside turned to ash in the flames.
Emanuele Galeppini, a promising 17-year-old Italian golfer who competed internationally, is officially listed as one of Italy’s missing nationals. His uncle Sebastiano Galeppini told Italian news agency ANSA that their family is awaiting the DNA checks, though the Italian Golf Federation on its website announced that he had died.
Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said that 13 Italian citizens were injured and six remained missing by midday Friday. Galeppini’s name was on the missing persons list.
France's foreign ministry said eight French people are missing and another nine are among the injured. Top-flight French soccer team FC Metz said one of its trainee players, 19-year-old Tahirys Dos Santos, was badly burned and has been transferred by plane to Germany for treatment.
On Instagram, an account filled up with photos of people who remained unaccounted for, with their friends and relatives begging for tips about the whereabouts of the missing.
The injured include 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French and 11 Italians, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said Friday. The nationalities of 14 people remain unclear.
The nearby regional hospital in Sion took in a flood of victims from the fire. Its general director, Eric Bonvin, recounted how staff scrambled to determine the extent of people’s injuries.
The hospital — in the heart of the Alps and no stranger to winter sports accidents — was well staffed for the end of the year, when crowds flock to the mountains. On top of that, many colleagues who had not been scheduled to work rushed in to lend a hand.
Still the hospital, which is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the resort by air, quickly hit full capacity, authorities said, taking in about 80 seriously injured people in just three hours.
As of Friday, the hospital still had about 30 seriously injured patients in its care.
With high-altitude ski runs rising around 3,000 meters (nearly 9,850 feet) in the heart of the Valais region’s snowy peaks and pine forests, Crans-Montana is one of the top venues on the World Cup circuit.
The resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers, including Lindsey Vonn, for their final events before the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
The town’s Crans-sur-Sierre golf club, down the street from the bar, stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course.
Dazio reported from Berlin and Leicester reported from Sion, Switzerland. Geir Moulson in Berlin, Graham Dunbar in Geneva and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
A police officer helps a boy to light a candle near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
