PDRD goes through all the game action in the PWHL over the previous week (March 17 to 23, 2025). Take a look at the current standings, playoff picture, and other news around the league, with some fun stats and tidbits thrown in along the way.
Tuesday, March 18: Montréal Victoire 2, Boston Fleet 3 (SO)
A clash between the league’s top two teams quickly became a parade to the penalty box for the Victoire.
First period
Mariah Keopple was whistled for her third penalty in the last three periods just five minutes in, and a poorly executed line change would temporarily put the Fleet up two skaters. Montréal would kill them off, as well as an Amanda Boulier hooking call soon after, but constantly having to call on their penalty kill unit prevented them from generating any sort of momentum in the opening frame.
The Victoire’s best chance came soon afterwards on a tic-tac-toe play from Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Anna Wilgren and Laura Stacey, but the alternate captain’s tip through the legs of Boston backup Emma Söderberg found the far post. Once again, they were unable to build on this opportunity due to their fourth penalty of the period, and Montréal could only play with fire so much. The red-hot Hilary Knight deflected a Sidney Morin wrister in the high slot for a backbreaker with under a minute left, giving the Fleet a 1–0 lead.
Second period
The teams traded goals in the second period, beginning with the Victoire. Lina Ljungblom did a lap of the offensive zone before finding Boulier, who was lost in coverage and free to tap the puck in far side on Söderberg for her first of the season. Boston’s response came from their usual suspects, as Knight’s pass glanced off the stick of a backchecking Marie-Philip Poulin right onto Susanna Tapani’s tape. She fired a bullet into the top corner past Ann-Renée Desbiens, marking both Fleet players’ second points of the night and Tapani’s tenth goal of the year. Soon afterwards though, even if Montréal would eventually even the score once again, things would get a whole lot worse for them first.
Boston’s Theresa Schafzahl entered the zone with possession, dropping a pass for Jamie Lee Rattray and heading to the front of the net. Desbiens pushed off of Schafzahl in an attempt to create more space between them, but fell back awkwardly on her left leg as Rattray’s shot sailed high. For the second time in a week, a team had to watch their starting goaltender be helped off the ice, a palpable concern present throughout the Tsongas Center. The Victoire would soon respond with a beautiful shot from Wilgren on the power play, but even through the goal, a game that had picked up the pace in the middle frame felt like some of the life had been taken out of it.
Third period
The third period was a quiet one, an outcome that seemed to be better off for Montréal as it allowed backup goalie Elaine Chuli to settle in, but tempers would flare later on. Kristin O’Neill was sent into the boards after the whistle by Morin, a play initially thought to be evened out by an embellishment call on the Victoire forward who instead turned out to be guilty of a slash at Söderberg on her way past.
Overtime and shootout
The two players would remain in the box for the start of overtime, where Boston put as many shots on Chuli as they did for the entirety of the third, but she was up to the task. Nothing was solved in the extra five minutes, and a shootout commenced.
Tapani and Knight both lost a handle on the puck on their attempts, while Söderberg expertly tracked Ljungblom and Poulin to keep the shootout scoreless through the first two rounds. Alina Müller and Erin Ambrose then traded goals, followed by misses by Loren Gabel and Stacey with the latter catching the far post for the second time that night.
Both coaches would then go back to the well with their shooters, and all would redeem their previous misses. Knight fired a slap shot into the top corner, Poulin came in with speed and snapped one short side, and Tapani moved from right to left to lift it over Chuli’s pad. Poulin was sent a third time, but Söderberg wouldn’t be fooled again, and the Fleet took the extra point in six rounds.
Nat’s Stat: Susanna Tapani has three career overtime winning goals and three career shootout winning goals, tied for the most in both categories with, coincidentally, two of her opponents. Laura Stacey has three overtime winners but none in the shootout, while Marie-Philip Poulin has three shootout winners but none in overtime.
Wednesday, March 19: New York Sirens 1, Toronto Sceptres 2
The early story in Toronto was a story of quality against quantity, as while the Sirens would put more shots on net, the Sceptres’ chances were significantly more dangerous.
First period
In the opening minutes, Sarah Fillier danced through centre ice but had to settle for a long wrister on Kristen Campbell, and Hayley Scamurra answered with a breakaway that was nicely tracked by Corinne Schroeder. Toronto started getting into penalty trouble but largely kept New York’s power play out of the slot area, and continued getting their looks in between trips to the box.
One of those looks would break the ice in this game, as Daryl Watts collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and took it in herself, shooting across her body to catch Schroeder far side for the 1–0 lead.
Second period
Watts would strike again just over a minute into the second with another deceptive shot as she cycled out of the corner. Hannah Miller made contact with Schroeder’s skate and glove as she skated by to set a screen, and with Watts beating the goaltender glove side, Sirens coach Greg Fargo challenged the play.
However, the call on the ice stood to Fargo’s disbelief, and the Sirens would be left shorthanded to add insult to injury. The penalty kill did their job, though, allowing New York to get on the board next.
Fillier won an offensive zone face-off back, the right-handed shot taking the draw on her strong side in lieu of Alex Carpenter. Ella Shelton, returning from a brief injury absence, took a shot well wide, but Carpenter was there to take it off the boards and squeak it through Campbell. The Sirens would string together a few more good chances in the middle period, but Campbell recovered nicely to preserve her team’s lead through two.
Third period
The third would prove to be incredibly excruciating for a New York team that needed all the points they could get, sitting out of a playoff spot late in the season.
Shelton caught the Sceptres defence off guard and sent Fillier in alone, who beat Campbell but caught the post. Emma Maltais would take a delay of game penalty that was negated by a slashing call on Fillier, just seconds after Noemi Neubauerová dumped Carpenter into the boards in front of the referee.
Finally, and most frustratingly, Toronto was called for too many players with three minutes remaining, but New York immediately returned the favour with six skaters on the ice before they had pulled Schroeder. With the wind taken out of the Sirens’ sails, the Sceptres would hold on for the 2–1 victory.
Nat’s Stat: Anna Kjellbin was credited with an assist in her Sceptres debut on Daryl Watts’ second goal of the game, becoming the first player to record a point in their first game with the team they were traded to partway through the year. In addition, she did so in 10:43 of ice time, the lowest total of any midseason acquisition in their initial appearance.
Saturday, March 22: Ottawa Charge 5, New York Sirens 2
New York would start their half of a home-and-home set with Ottawa strong, particularly driven by the aggressive play of defender Jaime Bourbonnais.
First period
She pinched down to intercept a breakout pass and set up the snakebitten Elle Hartje in front for a close chance, before putting a wraparound of her own on net. Gwyneth Philips, though, was up to the task in the Charge goal, allowing the team in front of her to settle in and create opportunities of their own.
With Fillier in the box after negating a Sirens power play for the second time in two periods, Gabbie Hughes hit Brianne Jenner with a backdoor pass that she easily finished for the game’s opening goal.
Second period
It would be the Charge’s turn to get into penalty trouble in the second period, making three straight trips to the box including back-to-back hooking calls drawn by Jade Downie-Landry. Philips held the Sirens off the board with some sharp saves in the first two, but even she couldn’t mitigate the mystifying decisions made by the Charge penalty kill on the third.
They were immediately sprung on a 2-on-0, but instead of shooting, Jenner took it around the net, allowing four of the five skaters in teal to close in on her. Later on, Hughes would circle back into her own end, but didn’t use the time she afforded herself to clear it, instead putting it behind her own goal. Emily Clark blew the zone on Ronja Savolainen’s clearing attempt, allowing the Sirens to keep it in and give Shelton a clean look, who made no mistake to add to her lead in goals among blueliners.
As demoralizing as the tying goal was to give up, Ottawa was quickly pulled out of it by their leading scorer, Tereza Vanišová. She would get a stick on Czechia countrywoman Aneta Tejralová’s point shot, deflecting it past Schroeder to regain the lead, and she’d strike again just over two minutes later.
Vanišová collected her own rebound and took it around the goal, but instead of going for the wraparound she delayed to give herself a better angle, allowing her to catch Schroeder five-hole as she slid across. Off the strength of Vanišová’s burst and the continued solid play of Philips, the Charge would take a 3–1 lead into the dressing room.
Third period
Fans at the Prudential Center barely had time to settle back into their seats for the third period before they’d witness the highlight of the PWHL season. Abby Roque recovered a loose puck and took it around the net, flicking it up onto her blade and wrapping it high off of Philips’ mask and into the top corner. The Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan product pulled off the first Michigan goal in league history less than a week after playing a pro game in her home state, and—almost secondarily—pulled her team back to within one goal in the third period.
Once again, though, the Charge wouldn’t be fazed. Not even two minutes after Roque set The Rock abuzz, Vanišová quieted the crowd by depositing a rebound off of Shiann Darkangelo’s rush chance to complete her second hat trick in just over a month. Clark joined in on the scoring with a quick shot right off an offensive zone draw, beating Schroeder five-hole for goal number five. Ottawa again took consecutive penalties late in the game, but Philips put the exclamation point on one of her best performances this season, holding on for the 5–2 Charge victory.
Nat’s Stat: Jincy Roese, née Dunne, recorded two assists on Saturday, part of a combined six points amongst siblings in the span of twenty-four hours. Joy Dunne scored twice and added a helper in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal, while Josh Dunne netted the lone goal for the AHL’s Rochester Americans on Friday night.
Sunday, March 23: Toronto Sceptres 2, Montréal Victoire 1
Rounding out the action this week was a Canadian matchup.
First period
The Sceptres tested Chuli early and often to begin the game, highlighted by Blayre Turnbull flying down the wing and taking a shot off her blocker, and Watts unleashing a similar shot to her first goal on Wednesday.
Aiding Toronto’s momentum was being on the favourable end of a couple borderline hits, namely Miller getting an elbow up on Abby Boreen and Renata Fast throwing Wilgren into the boards. They remained unpunished for now, though the Sceptres penalty kill would have their work cut out for them later in the game.
Second period
It wouldn’t be until the second period for the Sceptres to start turning their chances into goals. Just under a minute in, Turnbull hit a trailing Jesse Compher who had plenty of space to unleash her lethal shot, scoring for the fifth time in six meetings with the Victoire this season.
Another Sceptre with a penchant for putting pucks past Montréal netminders would strike next. Sarah Nurse, in her first game back from an injury suffered in the Rivalry Series, threw a backhand in front where Natalie Spooner was waiting to take a couple whacks at it, eventually putting it past Chuli for a 2–0 Toronto lead. It was Spooner’s third goal of the season, with all of them coming against the Victoire.
Third period
A combination of score effects and numerous Sceptres penalties allowed Montréal to not only make up the difference in shots on goal, but take a lead in that category. The Victoire’s power play has been a well-documented crack in their armour all season long, and it struggled to break through Campbell in this game.
It took until Toronto’s fifth trip to the box, a Turnbull cross check that left Keopple in visible discomfort, for them to find the back of the net, and who else but their captain to do it. Jennifer Gardiner hustled to keep a Compher clearing attempt in the zone, working it back across the ice to Cayla Barnes and then to Poulin, who sniped one short side for her league-leading 15th goal.
With five penalties called against Toronto to Montréal’s one and the game close, the referees were unlikely to call another against the Sceptres, leading to some controversy late in the third.
Emma Maltais checked Kati Tabin into the corner boards, marking the second Victoire defender to leave the ice in pain, but no arm went up. Nonetheless, Montréal was able to maintain solid offensive zone time with the extra attacker on for Chuli, but again couldn’t solve Campbell, who turned in her best performance of the season for another narrow Toronto win.
Nat’s Stat: Kaitlin Willoughby did not register a point for the 22nd consecutive game. Last year, she went 22 games without a point before recording an assist on the very last Sceptres goal of the regular season in her 23rd. Willoughby is the only skater in PWHL history with multiple scoring droughts of at least twenty games.
Standings Synopsis
- Montréal Victoire (10–6–3–6, .600, 45 pts)
- Toronto Sceptres (11–2–5–7, .560, 42 pts)
- Boston Fleet (8–6–4–6, .556, 40 pts)
- Minnesota Frost (7–5–4–9, .467, 35 pts)
- Ottawa Charge (9–1–4–10, .458, 33 pts)
- New York Sirens (5–4–4–12, .360, 27 pts)
The Sceptres’ regulation win over the Victoire put them within striking distance of first place, though the Fleet are still able to pass Toronto if they take three points from their game in hand. Similarly, the Charge have the ability to jump above the idle Frost for the final postseason spot with a victory of any fashion in their next game. The Sirens aren’t mathematically out of it, but two consecutive regulation losses this week are a near-insurmountable blow to their playoff chances.
News & Notes
Lastly, here are the news and notes in the last week of PWHL action.
Hartmetz debuts
The Fleet activated defender Hadley Hartmetz from LTIR and signed her to a 10-day contract ahead of Tuesday’s game. She would log 6:27 of ice time against the Victoire, playing for the first time since sustaining the injury in the NCAA championship game last March.
As a result, she fell to Boston in the seventh round of the draft despite putting up 33 points in 39 games from the blueline with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now that she’s healthy, Hartmetz is an intriguing addition to a Fleet team in prime position to snag a playoff spot.
Desbiens’ status remains unclear
The Victoire have yet to make a move on the goaltending front in the wake of Desbiens’ injury. Tricia Deguire, who hasn’t played professionally since the 2022–23 PHF season with the Montréal Force, has practiced with the team, but hasn’t signed a contract to this point.
In addition, Desbiens was named to Canada’s roster for the World Championships beginning in a couple weeks, providing further reason to be optimistic that her injury isn’t as severe as it initially appeared.
Photos from PWHL, @PWHL_Boston, @PWHL_Minnesota, @PWHL_Montreal, @PWHL_NewYork, @PWHL_Ottawa, and @PWHL_Toronto
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