The New York Sirens want to be fast, hungry, and tenacious this season. They checked all three boxes Saturday, opening the 2025-26 PWHL season with a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Charge. It’s the third consecutive season that New York claimed victory in the regular-season opener, with all three wins coming on the road.
This time, they hope it leads to a successful season, after finishing last in the League each of the past two.
A busy Sirens offseason brought equal parts hope and uncertainty. In response to two straight last-place finishes, general manager Pascal Daoust shook up the roster, parting with established stars in favor of a younger, unproven — yet dynamic — core.
While one game won’t answer all the questions, a dominant showing in Ottawa offered some validation that brighter days are indeed ahead.
“I think it just felt better to have our first win with this group,” Sirens goaltender Kayle Osborne said postgame. “We’re super young, and we’ve proven that we belong in this league.”
Osborne certainly did her part, stopping all 28 shots from the Charge en-route to her third career win and second PWHL shutout.
New York’s skaters handled the rest, peppering Ottawa with 42 shots on goal — a new franchise record. Taylor Girard’s natural hat trick in the third period provided more than enough offense to get the 2025-26 season off on the right foot.
Though the game remained scoreless into the third period, the fireworks began long before that.
Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart was ejected from the game at 11:17 of the first period after a heated scrum between the Sirens and the Charge.
With both teams already in the midst of serving two-minute minor penalties, Ottawa’s Gabbie Hughes was called for an illegal body checking penalty after a firm hit on Sirens alternate captain Jaime Bourbonnais. Zandee-Hart was quick to challenge the blow, delivering a cross-check to the head of Hughes before a larger scuffle broke out.
Officials assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct to Zandee-Hart, who awaits further ruling from the League on a potential suspension.
Sharp play from Osborne and Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips made it impossible for either side to score until Girard finally broke the seal at 7:49 of the third.
A sprawling kick save from Philips denied Sirens rookie Maddi Wheeler on a breakaway effort. But Girard was quick to follow, coralling the loose puck and jamming it in before Ottawa’s netminder could recover.
Her second tally came at 13:39, when the 27-year-old forward rifled home a one-timer after a beautiful feed behind the net from Wheeler.
Girard completed her first PWHL hat trick at 16:48, curling from behind the net and slipping the puck underneath the pads of Philips.
Second-year defender Maja Nylen Persson applied the finishing touch with a short-handed empty netter in the game’s waning moments.
“All of the goals that were scored — the credit goes to everybody else on the team who worked their butts off in every area of the ice,” Girard explained postgame. “We scored because we set each other up every shift, shift after shift. We were hard on the puck, and it was great — a great win.”
Wheeler notched three points — a League record for a PWHL debut — assisting on each of Girard’s goals, including primary helpers on the first two. The fourth-round pick (No. 27 overall) was on the ice for all four of New York’s tallies in just 10:40 of ice time.
Philips made 38 saves on 41 shots faced, earning Third Star of the Game honors in a valiant losing effort.
Key takeaways after Sirens shut out Charge to begin 2025-26 PWHL season
1. Kayle Osborne is New York’s X-Factor
Daoust made several bold moves in the offseason, but perhaps none bolder than leaving No. 1 goaltender Corinne Schroeder unprotected in the expansion draft and handing the reins to the 23-year-old Osborne.
Schroeder ranked third in the PWHL with 10 wins last season, accounting for all but two of New York’s victories in 2024-25. Though Osborne was reliable in her own right, posting a 2.22 goals against average and .916 save percentage in 10 games as a rookie, it was far from a no-brainer to let her take up the mantle unchallenged.
“I think this is the first time where she’s come in and been a starting goalie, and she knows it,” coach Greg Fargo said at training camp. “I’m excited to see where she can push it, because she’s a great puck stopper. She’s going to be a big part of our team and the success we have this year.”
Osborne rewarded that trust Saturday with her second career shutout, covering up a handful of defensive breakdowns for New York with some athletic saves.
It’s too early to make any bold assertions from one game. After all, maybe the Ontario native just has Ottawa’s number; all three of her PWHL wins are against the Charge.
Still, few players are more critical to New York’s success than Osborne. If she makes the ascension as a dominant starting goalie, much like her final season under Fargo at Colgate University in 2023-24, a playoff berth is well within reach for the Sirens. If it’s a sophomore slump, however, New York doesn’t have a proven backup to turn to.
Her performance in the season opener suggests the former.
2. Sirens get much-needed depth scoring
The Sirens had many issues last season, and chief among them was a lack of scoring depth.
New York’s top five goal scorers in 2024-25 accounted for 47 of their 70 goals — nearly 70 percent of the total output. One offseason later, leading goal-scorer Sarah Fillier is the only remnant from that group in 2025-26.
The Sirens will need more production from their bottom six this season, and they got it on Saturday.
With Girard, Wheeler, and Ella Hartje operating on all cylinders, New York’s third line put three past one of the best goaltenders in the PWHL. The trio accounted for 13 of the Sirens’ 42 shots on goal, and Girard paced the team with seven in a stellar effort.
Girard’s scoring rate, which has her on pace for 90 goals this season, isn’t sustainable — but the way they generated chances is.
Wheeler’s speed gave Ottawa’s defense fits, allowing her line to get behind the Charge and set up shop in the offensive zone. From there, it was a relentless and aggressive attack around the net.
The Sirens third line was the only blemish on an otherwise terrific night for Philips, and while two of the three goals may not have been pretty, it’s a product of the speed and tenacity that Fargo harped on throughout training camp.
New York’s top-six forwards, headed by Fillier, will drive offensive play more often than not, but steadier depth production remains essential if the Sirens wish to escape the PWHL cellar.
3. Kristyna Kaltounkova noticeable in PWHL debut for Sirens
Kristyna Kaltounkova didn’t show up on the score sheet Saturday. Still, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft was noticeable in her debut, for better or worse.
Kaltounkova was second on the Sirens with five shots on goal, unleashing her rocket shot early and often in the first period.
She also made an impact physically, dishing out two hits and engaging in some second-period extracurriculars with former Sirens defender Brooke Hobson. Whether or not she can control that side of her game is a different story.
Kaltounkova took a boarding penalty in the first period, narrowly avoiding a five-minute major after slamming Sarah Woznewicz against the end boards. The Sirens were fortunate that it didn’t come back to bite them. Ottawa scored shortly after, but it was waved off due to a too-many-players penalty.
She took a similar penalty against the Minnesota Frost during her preseason debut, when she was sent off for an illegal body check. Kaltounkova’s physical edge makes her an exciting asset for New York, but if she can’t stay out of the penalty box, it won’t do the Sirens much good.
As for her offensive game, there’s no question that her shot is pro-level, although her line’s impact waned down the stretch.
4. Penalty kill remains Sirens strength
If there’s any area the Sirens thrived in the past two seasons, it’s the penalty kill.
After ranking second in penalty killing percentage during the inaugural 2024 season, New York paced the League with an 86.2 percent success rate in 2024-25. If the regular-season opener is any indication, the Sirens haven’t lost a step in that area.
New York was short-handed for 8:37 on Saturday, killing all five penalties and adding a jailbreak goal in the final minute when Nylen Persson scored the empty netter at 6-on-4.
In the same breath, it would behoove them to be more careful moving forward. The Sirens were assessed 13 penalty minutes, which is far from a winning formula.
As it stands, it’s merely a footnote in a 4-0 win, but it’s not a trend New York can afford to continue.
