Lou Orlando
The Minnesota Frost became the third PWHL team to clinch a postseason berth in 2025-26 with a win Saturday afternoon over the Vancouver Goldeneyes. That leaves just one playoff spot remaining for the rest of the League to fight over.
Three points separate the fourth-through-sixth-place teams in the PWHL standings. The Toronto Sceptres currently have the inside track with 34 points, but it’s anyone’s to grab, especially after the New York Sirens rejoined the playoff picture with a pair of inspired wins, fueled by star forward Sarah Fillier.
That’s contributed to a shake-up in the middle of this week’s power rankings.
1. Montreal Victoire (52 points, 14-4-2-5, +32 GD)
Previous Ranking: 2 (+1)
The Montreal Victoire continued a dominant stretch of hockey with a pair of 3-0 shutouts over the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Ottawa Charge over the weekend.
Ann-Renée Desbiens only had to make 18 saves against Vancouver on Friday, but backup Sandra Abstreiter followed with one of the most impressive goalie performances this season, racking up 39 saves against Ottawa in her first career shutout.
Led by consecutive two-goal outings from Hayley Scamurra and Kaitlin Willoughby, the Victoire have scored at least three goals in 11 of their last 12 games.
Montreal posted a plus-11 goal differential in its last four games and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. They’ll have to fend off the Boston Fleet for the No. 1 seed, but don’t be surprised if the Victoire finish the season atop the League.
2. Boston Fleet (51 points, 13-5-2-4, +23 GD)
Previous Ranking: 1 (-1)
The Fleet haven’t played a game since last week’s power rankings, so their demotion has little to do with their own play.
Boston returns from a eight-day break Tuesday, visiting the Goldeneyes in Edmonton. The Fleet won each of their last four games (4-0-0-0), outscoring opponents 13-2 behind three shutouts from Aerin Frankel and Amanda Thiele.
Montreal jumped into first place over the weekend, but the Fleet have a game in hand and two more matchups with the Victoire on April 11 and April 17. In all likelihood, the No. 1 seed will go to one of these two juggernauts.
3. Minnesota Frost (46 points, 12-3-4-6, +20 GD)
Previous Ranking: 3 (–)
Minnesota survived a barn-burner Saturday, as Kelly Pannek’s four-point outing (two goals, two assists) helped secure a 6-5 playoff-clinching win over Vancouver. Pannek now leads all PWHL skaters with 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists).
They flirted with a perfect week, but couldn’t hold a 3-1 third-period lead over New York on Wednesday, instead falling 4-3 in overtime. Nonetheless, the Frost are primed to finish comfortably in the top three of the League, though the No. 1 seed will be difficult to pry away from Boston and Montreal.
Frost coach Ken Klee has kept goalies Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley on a fairly even workload, but with Hensley struggling since March (2-0-0-2, 4.00 goals-against average, .860 save percentage), look for Rooney to get the starting nod in an important April 15 matchup against the Fleet.
4. New York Sirens (31 points, 8-2-3-12, -11 GD)
Previous Ranking: 8 (+4)
The Sirens entered last week on an ugly skid, losing nine of 10 games (1-0-2-7) since Jan. 20. With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Fillier dragged New York back into the fight.
Trailing 3-1 in the third period against Minnesota on Wednesday, Fillier scored twice in 14 seconds and completed her first career PWHL hat trick with the overtime winner at 4:45. On Saturday, before a U.S.-record crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden, she delivered again — tying the game with 3:35 left in regulation and scoring in the shootout to set up Maja Nylen Persson’s winner.
Fillier earned PWHL Player of the Week honors Tuesday, but her hot stretch dates back to March 8; the star winger has eight goals and nine points in her last seven games. With rookie Kristyna Kaltounkova on long-term injured reserve until at least April 15, New York needs all the production it can get from Fillier.
After a pair of overtime wins, the Sirens still trail Toronto by three points, but with five games left — including matchups against the Sceptres and Ottawa Charge — New York can play its way into the postseason with a strong finish.
5. Toronto Sceptres (34 points, 9-1-5-10, -16 GD)
Previous Ranking: 6 (+1)
Toronto and Ottawa see-sawed between fourth and fifth-place over the last two weeks. The Sceptres hold fourth place for the moment thanks to a 2-1 win over the Charge last Wednesday. Raygan Kirk stopped 28 of 29 shots in her return to action, and Blayre Turnbull continued an impressive scoring stretch with her second consecutive two-point game.
The return of their No. 1 goalie is paramount for a Sceptres squad that stumbled the previous weekend with losses to Boston and Vancouver. Kirk is 4-0-2-1 with a 1.41 GAA and .953 save percentage in seven games since the Olympic break. Toronto hasn’t scored more than two goals in their last six, but with Kirk playing at an elite level, they’ve got a strong chance to get much-needed wins against New York and Ottawa.
The Sceptres gets nine days off before another battle with the Charge on Saturday — this time on home ice. Their final five games includes two matchups each against Ottawa and New York, leaving Toronto’s playoff fate firmly in its own hands.
6. Ottawa Charge (33 points, 6-7-1-11, -10 GD)
Previous Ranking: 4 (-2)
Ottawa dropped both of its games last week (0-0-0-2), falling out of a playoff after a 2-1 loss to the Sceptres on Wednesday and a 3-0 loss Friday to the Victoire.
An offense that once ranked second in the League picked the wrong time to dry up. Ottawa hasn’t scored more than two goals in any of its last five games, including shutouts at the hands of Minnesota and Montreal. The Charge are 2-0-1-2 in that stretch — largely thanks to sharp play from goalie Gwyneth Philips — but limited scoring doesn’t bode well long term, especially with their defensive struggles throughout the season.
Like Toronto, Ottawa can cement its playoff status with wins over the remaining playoff suitors. But any slip against the Sceptres or Sirens carries heavy consequences.
7. Vancouver Goldeneyes (27 points, 7-1-4-13, -15 GD)
Previous Ranking: 5 (-2)
Vancouver put up a good fight against Minnesota, spearheaded by three-point efforts from defenders Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson, but it wasn’t enough to earn a point Saturday.
With her power-play goal in the first period, Jaques surpassed Fleet captain Megan Keller for the PWHL lead in goals by a defender (seven). Jaques, Thompson, and Sarah Nurse can hang their hats on strong individual seasons in Vancouver, but any hopes of a postseason push seem far-fetched at this point.
The Goldeneyes have lost four of their last five games (1-0-0-4), and sit seven points out of fourth-place with five games left. It would take a spectacular turnaround to challenge for the final playoff spot, and a daunting schedule — featuring remaining matchups against Boston, Montreal, and Minnesota — doesn’t help matters.
8. Seattle Torrent (23 points, 6-1-3-14, -23 GD)
Previous Ranking: 7 (-1)
With six games remaining, the Seattle Torrent are on the brink of elimination. Seattle battled valiantly against New York in a 2-1 shootout loss at the Garden on Saturday, led by standout performances from former Sirens Alex Carpenter and Corinne Schroeder.
Schroeder made a season-high 37 saves on 38 shots in 65 minutes between regulation and overtime, earning third star honors. Carpenter notched Seattle’s lone goal and was the only Torrent skater to score against Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne in the shootout.
Seattle remains the favorite to finish with the most draft points via the PWHL’s Gold Plan, but a loss to Ottawa on Wednesday could help expedite that process.
