PDub ReDub: PWHL returns to action after Women’s Worlds with major news

Saturday, April 26: Montréal Victoire 2, Ottawa Charge 3

A team that’s clinched against a team fighting for their playoff lives, the Victoire look to play spoiler for the Charge in the first game back from the World Championship break.

First Period

Ottawa certainly looked the part of desperation, flying out of the gate with waves of chances from each of their forward lines, the best of them from Alexa Vasko and Victoria Bach on their fourth. Montréal had their good looks as well, but their shots that usually would be labelled high-blocker on most goalies sailed into the right-catching glove of Philips.

Eventually, the scoreboard would mimic the run of play. After Stephanie Markowski took Laura Stacey off the ice with offsetting roughing minors, Ashton Bell opened the scoring on the ensuing 4-on-4. Her defence partner Jocelyne Larocque made a great stretch pass to an open Darkangelo, whose try on Elaine Chuli deflected off of a driving Bell’s leg and in.

Darkangelo would be involved in the next marker as well, as her line with leading scorer Tereza Vanišová and captain Brianne Jenner continued to click. Vanišová hit Jenner with a cross-seam pass that she took on her backhand, then shot past Chuli with the next touch on her forehand to make it 2–0.

The Victoire wouldn’t go into the dressing room down multiple goals, though. Anna Wilgren, fresh off her first USA national team appearance, snuck a wrist shot through traffic and past fellow gold medal winner Philips to cut the lead to just one.

Second Period

While the period would end scoreless, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The teams went back and forth in the first half of the second, highlighted by Stacey and Ronja Savolainen trading rush chances. Ottawa would survive a scare in the latter half by killing off 1:58 of a Victoire two-woman advantage, necessitated by an Anna Meixner interference penalty immediately followed by a rare face-off violation committed by Danielle Serdachny.

Third Period

Montréal would finally break through Philips again after a miscue on the breakout by the Charge. Meixner’s clearing attempt glanced off of Kristin O’Neill’s skate and right to Catherine Dubois, who had time, space, and a good angle to put it under the goaltender’s glove. While O’Neill and new teammate Kaitlin Willoughby have struggled this year, putting them on a line with a sparkplug in Dubois seemed to energize them, as the trio was the Victoire’s best over the course of the game.

With a playoff position potentially on the line, Ottawa looked well on their way to faltering in the third period once again. After being unable to convert on a Wilgren penalty that also temporarily took Jenner out of the game to get stitched up, Darkangelo was given a borderline slashing call with under two minutes to go in regulation. If the Charge were to glean points from this game, they’d have to do it all on the penalty kill until overtime. That is, of course, unless they scored themselves.

Emily Clark broke the puck out to Gabbie Hughes, who sent it into the opposing corner and chased after it. She received unlikely help in the form of Larocque, who crashed in from the point to allow Hughes to gain control once more. The centre sent it back up top to Bell, whose shot glanced off of Abby Boreen’s glove and past Chuli. Entering the game with one goal on the season, Bell left it with three, as her jailbreak game-winner at thirteen seconds on the clock let the Ottawa Charge leave with three points of their own.

Nat’s Stat: While Ashton Bell’s second goal of the game was the latest regulation jailbreak goal the PWHL has seen thus far, it isn’t the latest in a given period in league, or even team history. On February 19, 2024, Gabbie Hughes scored shorthanded against Boston with twelve seconds left in the middle frame, just one tick fewer than Bell. Hughes’ goal was assisted by Emily Clark, and both forwards factored in on Bell’s game-winner on Saturday.

Saturday, March 26: Toronto Sceptres 0, Boston Fleet 3

After a strong World Championships, Klára Peslarová makes her first PWHL start as the Fleet look to hold off the Charge in the standings by holding off the Sceptres at home.

First Period

Any nerves Peslarová may have had were shaken off by the play of the team in front of her. Lexie Adzija opened the scoring on their first shot of the game, taking a pass from Jamie Lee Rattray behind the net and putting it past Kristen Campbell, who was looking the complete opposite way.

While Boston was feeling the loss of Frankel and Müller due to injuries suffered in their respective final games of Worlds, another player returning in their stead made her mark right away. Hannah Bilka, playing her first game since the Rivalry Series, made a dangerous pass to Megan Keller, who couldn’t get a shot off but maintained control of the puck. She circled back to the point and flung it on net where Hannah Brandt tapped it five-hole on Campbell, her second of the season and her team’s second of the opening frame.

Second Period

A quieter middle frame would be marked by a couple Sceptres penalties, a concerning trend from before the break that seemed to carry over. Exemplifying this was Renata Fast taking her league-leading 17th minor penalty late in the second, and Toronto just barely wouldn’t escape unscathed. Loren Gabel led a Fleet four-on-two rush, dropping it for Rattray who sent it across to Theresa Schafzahl for the tap-in with just seven seconds remaining.

Third Period

Score effects would take over for the remainder of the game, with the Sceptres outshooting the Fleet 10–2 in the third period. Peslarová, though, would get in front of all of them, settling down the Boston crease in Frankel’s absence and remaining flawless in her young PWHL career thus far. Playing the puck as time expired, #29 was able to collect her own souvenir from her 29-save shutout in her first start, as the Fleet cruised to a 3–0 victory.

Nat’s Stat: Each of Boston’s goal scorers in Saturday’s game had previously only scored against the Ottawa Charge this season. Lexie Adzija (2–4–6) put in the empty-netter at TD Place on March 15, Hannah Brandt (2–8–10) netted the game-winner against Ottawa at home on December 17, and Theresa Schafzahl (3–2–5) got the opening goal against the Charge on February 20 while also scoring in the March 15 game.

Sunday, April 27: New York Sirens 2, Minnesota Frost 0

With the latest Charge and Fleet wins, winning this game became even more imperative for the Frost. They take on the Sirens in their last home game of the season.

First Period

Minnesota absolutely overwhelmed New York to start, taking a quick 9–1 lead in shots by the first TV time-out and forcing a penalty out of Ella Shelton to boot. They’d bump that total to 17 over the course of the period with the closest coming off the stick of Kendall Coyne Schofield after a giveaway by Girard, but it caught the mask of Schroeder instead of twine.

The Sirens had their chances intermittently, including a Sarah Fillier breakaway, but weren’t able to generate any sustained pressure. With the 0–0 score holding to the end of the first, Schroeder had already made one more save than was necessary in her April 1 shutout.

Second Period

The onslaught on Schroeder wouldn’t let up, as early into the second period Downie-Landry was ejected for a hit from behind on Katy Knoll. New York’s penalty kill, though, has been a bright spot in their less-than-stellar season, and they made it through the five minutes with help from their netminder. Abby Roque, who was all over the ice in this game, hit the post shortly after the extended power play, continuing the Sirens’ trend of opportunistic chances.

This would also be how they’d get on the board first. Maggie Flaherty bobbled the puck at the offensive blueline as the last defender back, and Girard was off to the races on a breakaway. She made no mistake going low blocker on Maddie Rooney, recording her first goal since a midseason trade from Boston, and her first of the year overall.

Third Period

Despite not facing many shots, Rooney was in a difficult position in this game, since the chances were extremely dangerous when they occurred. The Sirens didn’t get their first shot on her until halfway through the period, but Rooney had to sprawl out to make a toe save on Eldridge to keep the Frost within one.

Unfortunately, her effort wouldn’t be enough. Taylor Heise took a penalty late, and after Elle Hartje, still without a goal this season, caught iron on the empty net from her own end, she’d set up Paetyn Levis for the late clincher. Schroeder recorded her second straight shutout, with more than twice as many saves as her previous, to lead New York to a 2–0 win.

Nat’s Stat: Despite Jade Downie-Landry’s ejection and a brief injury scare with Micah Zandee-Hart, New York defender Olivia Knowles did not play a shift on Sunday, marking the fifth consecutive game she’s been dressed that she did not touch the ice. As a result, Knowles has recorded the most single-season and career games with an ice time of 0:00, with Minnesota teammates Brooke Bryant and Kaitlyn O’Donohoe being the next closest skaters with four and three, respectively.

Standings Synopsis

1. x – Montréal Victoire (11–6–3–8, .571, 48 pts)
2. x – Toronto Sceptres (12–2–5–9, .536, 45 pts)
3. Boston Fleet (9–6–4–9, .512, 43 pts)
4. Ottawa Charge (12–1–4–11, .500, 42 pts)
5. Minnesota Frost (8–5–4–11, .452, 38 pts)
6. e – New York Sirens (8–4–4–12, .429, 36 pts)

While the Sirens’ mathematical elimination was confirmed with the two results on Saturday, their victory over the Frost had implications for nearly every other team in the league.

Not only do the Sceptres clinch their spot because of it, the Fleet and Charge move dangerously close to doing so themselves. Minnesota, now only able to accrue 44 points at most, is unable to control their own destiny, despite their last two games being against Boston and Ottawa.

In addition, New York clinched the higher draft pick of the two non-playoff teams with the win, though whether it is first overall remains to be seen due to…

News & Notes

PWHL expansion!

In a long-awaited announcement, the PWHL revealed on Wednesday that a seventh team, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, would begin play starting next season. While their home arena, being Pacific Coliseum, was unveiled, information regarding the expansion draft and Vancouver’s integration into the entry draft has yet to be given.

It has been heavily rumoured that an eighth team in Seattle, Washington will join PWHL Vancouver on the west coast, but there has been no official confirmation or announcement from the league regarding this.

Injury Report

As alluded to before, Boston’s Müller was placed on long-term injured reserve, and while Frankel was not, she remains in concussion protocol.

In addition to those two, Toronto Sceptres goaltender Raygan Kirk was moved to LTIR over the break, and the team signed Kassidy Sauvé to a standard player agreement in a corresponding move.

Sauvé put up the third-best save percentage in Sweden’s top division this year, leading SDE to the league semifinals where they were swept by the top regular season team in Luleå.

Returner Report

Joining Bilka back in their team’s respective lineups are Ottawa Charge forward Kateřina Mrázová and Montréal Victoire forward Alexandra Labelle. Mrázová had been injured since Ottawa’s massive 8–3 win over the Frost in February, but played at the World Championships and recorded five assists in seven games. Her return is incredible news for the Charge, as she often serves as their top line centre.

Labelle’s presence is similarly a massive help to Montréal, as she formed the league’s most consistent third line with Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Claire Dalton before her injury, and the team’s forward depth noticeably struggled without her.