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Regular-season resumes April 18 with 15 games remaining before inaugural PWHL Playoffs
All six teams in action on April 20 headlined by the “Duel at the Top” presented by Rogers, between Montréal and Toronto at the Bell Centre
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (April 18, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) returns to action this week and all six teams are ‘Chasing the Championship’ and the opportunity to make history by winning The Walter Cup. The final 15 games of the inaugural regular-season schedule will see every team play each other one more time and will determine all four spots for the PWHL Playoffs and the order of selection for the 2024 PWHL Draft.
PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
Up to three teams, including Toronto, Minnesota, and Montréal, can clinch a berth in the PWHL Playoffs based on potential outcomes in this week’s games.
Toronto (10-3-0-6) is in first place in the standings with 36 points and need just one point to punch their postseason ticket. Their first opportunity to clinch is on Thursday night in Boston and would come by virtue of a win or an overtime/shootout loss. If Toronto loses to Boston in regulation on Thursday, their next opportunity to clinch would be on Saturday afternoon with either a win or an overtime/shootout loss against Montréal, or if Boston is unable to defeat New York in regulation.
Minnesota (8-4-3-4) is in second place in the standings with 35 points and can also secure a playoff berth on Thursday night in Montréal. They have three ways to do so, including a regulation win, an overtime/shootout victory combined with two or less points earned by Boston in their matchup against Toronto, or else an overtime/shootout loss against Montréal combined with a Boston loss to Toronto. Minnesota’s next opportunity to clinch would come on Saturday in Ottawa.
Montréal (7-3-4-5) is in third place in the standings with 31 points and could clinch on Saturday following favourable results between their Thursday game against Minnesota and Saturday game against Toronto, which are also dependent on Boston’s outcome against Toronto on Thursday and a matchup with New York on Saturday.
Ottawa (7-0-6-6) is in fourth place in the standings with 27 points and need 11 points to exceed Boston’s total points potential. Boston (4-4-2-9) is in fifth place with 22 points and can still finish with as high as 37 points. New York (3-4-3-9) is in sixth place with 20 points and can still finish with as high as 35 points. Based on the current standings, no team may be eliminated from playoff contention before games played on April 24.
2024 PWHL PLAYOFFS
The top four teams in the PWHL regular-season standings qualify for the PWHL Playoffs, which will commence on May 8, with two best-of-five semifinals. The first-place team will be awarded the opportunity to select its semifinal opponent – choosing between the third- or fourth-place teams. The higher seeds will have home-ice advantage for games one, two, and five in each series. The semifinal winners will advance to the PWHL Finals where they will compete in a best-of-five series for The Walter Cup.
2024 PWHL DRAFT ORDER OF SELECTION
The “Gold Plan” will assign the first pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft to the non-playoff team that accrues the most points following its elimination from playoff contention. Once a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it begins earning ‘Draft Order Points’ in all subsequent games (including all regular-season games that begin following a team’s elimination), using the league’s standard points system. The team with the most Draft Order Points at the conclusion of the regular season will earn the first selection in each round of the draft. The non-playoff team with the fewest Draft Order Points will select second in each round of the draft.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
There are five games on this week’s schedule including two on Thursday and three on Saturday. Thursday features the fifth and final meetings of the regular-season between Toronto and Boston, and Minnesota and Montréal. Saturday will be the busiest day of the PWHL season with all six teams in action throughout the day. At 1:00 p.m. ET, Toronto will take on Montréal for the fifth time as the classic Canadian rivalry reaches new heights in the Duel at the Top, presented by Rogers, to be played at the Bell Centre where a new women’s hockey attendance record is projected. Boston will take on New York for the fifth time in the league’s first game at Prudential Center at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by Minnesota at Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. ET at The Arena at TD Place in what will be their fifth meeting.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Toronto at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell)
Linear TV: NESN, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Streaming: TSN+, YouTube
7:00 p.m. ET – Minnesota at Montréal (Verdun Auditorium)
Linear TV: TSN1/4/5, Bally Sports North/West/Wisconsin, Sportsnet Pittsburgh Plus
Streaming: YouTube
French: RDS
Saturday, April 20, 2024
1:00 p.m. ET – Toronto at Montréal (Bell Centre)
Linear TV: CBC, Sportsnet Pittsburgh Plus
Streaming: CBC Gem, YouTube
French: RDS
3:30 p.m. ET – Boston at New York (Prudential Center)
Linear TV: MSG/MSGHD
Streaming: YouTube
7:00 p.m. ET – Minnesota at Ottawa (The Arena at TD Place)
Linear TV: Bally Sports North/Detroit/Florida/San Diego/Southeast/Southern California/West/Wisconsin
Streaming: CBC Gem, Women’s Sports Network, YouTube
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL PWHL SCHEDULE
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