Highlights from around the PWHL in the league’s return from the international break
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (February 18, 2025) – A closer look at highlights on and off the ice from around the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
NEXT STOP, BUFFALO
The PWHL Takeover Tour™ continues with its sixth game, this Sunday, Feb. 23 at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center where the New York Sirens will host the Boston Fleet at 4 p.m. ET. Fans can also get a sneak peak of both teams during open practices followed by autograph sessions on Saturday at the LECOM Harborcenter. The first five games of the tour have amassed a total attendance of 81,441 starting in Seattle (12,608), a sold-out crowd in Vancouver (19,038), a record-setting U.S. crowd in Denver (14,018), and sold-out crowds in Québec City (18,259) and Edmonton (17,518). The PWHL Takeover Tour™ is a slate of nine neutral-site regular-season games that are being played outside the League’s current complement of cities. Click here for more.
ONTARIO RIVALS PUT ON A SHOW IN ALBERTA
The fifth stop of the PWHL Takeover Tour™ featured an all-Ontario battle in Western Canada where the Toronto Sceptres skated to a 3-2 overtime win over the Ottawa Charge on Sunday afternoon in Edmonton. The sold-out crowd of 17,518 at Rogers Place saw a two-goal performance from Daryl Watts lift the Sceptres to their second OT win in five days. Ottawa’s Albertans, including rookies Stephanie Markowski and Danielle Serdachny, along with veteran goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer arrived at the rink wearing locally inspired outfits. Toronto’s newest player, Laura Kluge, wore a Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers jersey in honor of her fellow German. Members of Canada’s National Women’s Para Hockey Team were in attendance and read the team’s starting lineups. The ceremonial puck drop was performed by a trio who are breaking barriers and empowering the next generation of women and girls, including Danielle Weller, VP of Human Resources for Oilers Entertainment Group, Layla Matthew, captain of the Junior Oilers, and 10-year-old Hadley, a member of Colby’s Kids. On Saturday, the Charge held an open practice, toured the Oilers locker room, and some players attended the Edmonton Oil Kings game that night to sign autographs. Click here to watch.
FIVE SELL-OUTS FOLLOW INTERNATIONAL BREAK
Including the Takeover Tour™ in Edmonton, the PWHL had five sold-out crowds in its first eight games since returning from February’s international break. Toronto hosted two of the sell-outs at Coca-Cola Coliseum, with a crowd of 8,183 last Tuesday and 8,124 for Valentine’s Day on Friday. Montréal had a sold-out crowd of 10,172 at Place Bell on Saturday afternoon, followed by Boston’s second straight sell-out at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell with a season-high crowd of 6,032 on Sunday afternoon. PWHL attendance through 51 games of the league’s 90-game schedule is 374,027 – an average of 7,334 per game.
STARS COME SUPPORT THE SIRENS
New York’s Presidents’ Day matinee against Boston was a star-studded matchup both on and off the ice. In attendance were PWHL Advisory Board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, while recently retired U.S. Women’s National Team star and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Kelley O’Hara performed the ceremonial puck drop, and two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning accompanied his daughter’s youth team to Prudential Center for the Kid’s Day celebration.
STREAKING INTO THE SECOND HALF
Montréal (9-3-1-2) enters Tuesday night action riding a six-game winning streak – the longest streak in the PWHL this season. The Victoire, who have also won six straight games on home ice, lead the PWHL standings with 34 points. The Sceptres (6-2-4-6) have surged up the standings with four straight wins and points in seven consecutive games. Toronto shares second place with Minnesota and Boston – each with 26 points. The Fleet (6-3-2-6) won both games of a back-to-back schedule and have emerged victorious in four of their last five overall while extending their home winning streak to five games at the Tsongas Center. On the flip side, the Frost (5-4-3-6) have lost three straight, and the Sirens (4-3-2-8) have dropped five in a row and find themselves in sixth place with 20 points. Ottawa (6-0-3-8) is in fifth place with 21 points. Click here to see the current PWHL standings.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST IN OTTAWA
The Charge became the first team in PWHL history to score eight goals in a single game, doing so last Thursday night in an 8-3 victory over the Frost. Ottawa’s offensive outburst came following a stretch where the team had combined for just eight goals in their previous seven games before the break. Ottawa found the back of the net on their first two shots, becoming just the second team in PWHL history to achieve the feat following Minnesota way back on Jan. 3, 2024, against Boston. The 11 combined goals surpass the previous single-game record of nine, which has occurred twice in league history, when Minnesota beat Toronto 6-3 on Dec. 7, 2024, and last season when Montréal beat Ottawa 6-3 on Feb. 24, 2024. Click here to see the PWHL schedule and scores.
HAT TRICK FOR VANIŠOVÁ
A big part of Ottawa’s scoring success on Thursday can be attributed to Tereza Vanišová who tallied the second hat trick of this PWHL campaign and tenth all-time. The 29-year-old Czech forward notched the Charge’s fourth, fifth, and eighth goals in the historic game. She also added a goal on Sunday in Edmonton to bring her season total to eight – tied for second in the league. Ottawa had two hat tricks during the inaugural season by Watts (Mar. 23) and captain Brianne Jenner (Apr. 20). Montréal captain Marie-Philip Poulin recorded this season’s first hat trick on Jan. 29 against Ottawa.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH
February 16 was an extra special day for Hannah Miller. The Sceptres forward celebrated her 29th birthday on Sunday with a career-high three assists. Her performance not only helped boost Toronto past Ottawa with a 3-2 win in overtime, but it also propelled her atop the league’s scoring race with 18 points (8G, 10A) in 18 games. Last season on her birthday, Miller scored a goal and an assist as Toronto beat Montréal 3-0 in the first edition of the Battle on Bay Street. This year’s occasion was not lost on her teammates, as Sceptres players all dressed up as Miller for their pre-game walk-ins – to her surprise.
SHUTOUT FOR FRANKEL
Boston’s Aerin Frankel recorded the league’s fifth shutout of the season last Wednesday with a 25-save performance in a 4-0 victory over New York. The shutout was the second of her PWHL career and one of a league-high nine games this season where the 25-year-old from Chappaqua, NY, has turned aside 25 or more shots. Frankel ranks second among PWHL goaltenders in wins (8), goals-against-average (1.90) and save percentage (.932).
FIRST WIN FOR PESLAROVÁ
Another Boston netminder stole the show this week as Klára Peslarová earned her first career PWHL victory on Sunday. The 28-year-old Czech backstop entered the game to start the second period with her team trailing 2-0 and stopped all 15 shots she faced as the Fleet came back to beat the Frost 4-2. With the win, Peslarová became the first goaltender this season to earn a win in her first career appearance, and the first-ever to earn a PWHL win after entering the game in relief of the starter.
WELCOME BACK SPOONER
Reigning PWHL MVP and top scorer Natalie Spooner returned to action, notching an assist last Tuesday, while playing in her first game in 275 days since suffering a knee injury during the Sceptres’ semifinal playoff series. Last season, the 34-year-old from Scarborough, ON, led the league with 20 goals and 27 points in 24 games and became the inaugural recipient of the PWHL’s Billie Jean King MVP award, to highlight her accolades. She was also recognized as the IIHF’s Female Player of the Year.
MÜLLER MEANS BUSINESS
There’s been two completely different sides to the season so far for Boston’s Alina Müller. After being held off the scoresheet in her first eight games, the Fleet forward has been the league’s most productive player over the last eight games with 11 points (4G, 7A). The 26-year-old from Switzerland recorded a pair of two-point performances in the team’s back-to-back wins on Sunday and Monday and has cracked the league’s top 20 in overall points.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Miller’s 18 points are followed closely by Minnesota’s Kendall Coyne Schofield (7G, 10A) and New York’s Sarah Fillier (5G, 12A) who are tied for second with 17 points. Boston’s Hilary Knight (8G, 8A), Minnesota’s Taylor Heise (4G, 12A) and Toronto defender Renata Fast (4G, 12A) are all tied for fourth with 16 points each. Poulin leads the league with 11 goals. In goal, Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens has won six straight starts and leads the league with nine victories overall, along with a goals-against-average of 1.79 and save percentage of .935. Click here for PWHL skater stats.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
A stretch of 10 straight days of PWHL action continues tonight with Montréal hosting Minnesota at Place Bell, followed by New York hosting Toronto at Prudential Center on Wednesday, and capped with Ottawa hosting Boston at The Arena at TD Place on Thursday. On the weekend, the Charge welcome the Victoire on Saturday afternoon, and two Sunday afternoon games, featuring the Frost and Sceptres for a Black History Month Unity Game at Xcel Energy Center, and the PWHL Takeover Tour between the Sirens and Fleet at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
7 p.m. ET – Minnesota Frost at Montréal Victoire (Place Bell)
Prime Video (Canada), FanDuel Sports Network North
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
7 p.m. ET – Toronto Sceptres at New York Sirens (Prudential Center)
MSG/MSGHD, TSN 4/5
Thursday, February 20, 2025
7 p.m. ET – Boston Fleet at Ottawa Charge (The Arena at TD Place)
TSN 3/5, NESN
Saturday, February 22, 2025
2 p.m. ET –Montréal Victoire at Ottawa Charge (The Arena at TD Place)
CBC, ICI TÉLÉ and ICI TOU.TV
Sunday, February 23, 2025
1:30 p.m. ET – Toronto Sceptres at Minnesota Frost (Xcel Energy Center)
FanDuel Sports Network North, TSN 2
4 p.m. ET – PWHL Takeover Tour – Boston Fleet at New York Sirens (KeyBank Center, Buffalo)
MSGSNHD/Z1/Z2, NESN, TSN 2
All PWHL games will be streamed on the league’s YouTube Channel and at thepwhl.com, and are available to watch worldwide outside of Canada, and in Czechia and Slovakia where games are available via Nova Sport.