The Ottawa Charge and New York Sirens again headline our PWHL power rankings — and deservedly so.
After suboptimal starts to the 2025-26 season, the Sirens and Charge now occupy two of the League’s four playoff spots, buoyed by current winning streaks. New York claimed its fourth straight victory Tuesday, and Ottawa extended its League-best winning streak to six over the weekend.
That’s enough to merit a second consecutive week of top billing, but it’s not the only story worth monitoring with a third of the season in the books. It’s all here in a brand new PWHL power rankings.
1. Boston Fleet (23 points, 7-0-2-2)
Last Week’s Ranking: 1 (–)
The Boston Fleet got four points out of a possible six (1-0-1-0) last week to maintain a four-point edge on first place in the PWHL standings.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a team better defensively. Boston held the Seattle Torrent to 15 shots on goal Wednesday and Ottawa to 18 on Sunday. It’s the first time the Fleet allowed less than 20 shots in 2025-26, but it’s still very much in line with their stingy ways. Through 11 games, Boston allowed 1.45 goals per game and 24.9 shots against–both League-best marks.
A 2-1 win over the Torrent encapsulated the Fleet formula. They received a strong performance from the defense pair of Megan Keller and Haley Winn, which greatly aided another sharp outing from goalie Aerin Frankel.
They could use a break from the Charge, though. For the second time in four games, Boston blew a third-period lead against Ottawa and fell in a shootout, this time by a 2-1 score.
Frankel wasn’t quite herself in the shootout, failing to make a save on four shots against. Not that it’s any reason to sound the alarm–Boston’s starting goalie made 31 of 33 saves in 125 minutes of live play across two games. She’s started every game but one this season, and her numbers (1.28 goals against average, .947 save percentage) speak for themselves.
2. Minnesota Frost (19 points, 5-1-2-3)
Last Week’s Ranking: 2 (–)
The Minnesota Frost made an emphatic return to the win column Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the Torrent.
Six different skaters recorded multi-point games en route to a season-best output for the Frost. Taylor Heise and Sidney Morin led the way with three points apiece, and Grace Zumwinkle and Katy Knoll each tallied a pair of goals.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see the Frost reach such heights offensively. Despite this past summer’s expansion, Minnesota still boasts a star-studded forward core that’s not easily rivaled, even after losing second-year center Dominique Petrie to a season-ending injury. The Frost are the only team averaging over three goals per game–a stat aided by their 10.0 percent shooting clip.
After a slow start, Heise is playing just shy of a point-per-game pace with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 11 games. The former No. 1 overall pick has eight points in her past five games and, thanks to a stellar effort Sunday, became the fourth Frost forward to reach the 10-point mark this season.
You won’t find a more potent offense in the PWHL. Minnesota already scored at least five goals in four games this season; the other seven teams did it just three times combined.
3. Montreal Victoire (16 points, 4-2-0-4)
Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (–)
Marie-Philip Poulin extended her point streak to six games Sunday, netting the lone assist on Nicole Gosling’s first goal of the season. The spotlight, however, belongs to goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens, who stopped all 26 shots for her second shutout of the season, when the Montreal Victoire defeated the Vancouver Goldeneyes 1-0.
Vancouver’s Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 25 of 26, but Desbiens triumphed in the narrow battle between two of Team Canada’s Olympic goaltenders, helping Montreal claim its first regulation win since Dec. 20. Desbiens now leads the League with a 1.25 GAA and is second with a .953 save percentage.
Montreal’s penalty kill stopped all four power-play attempts by Vancouver on Sunday. On the season, the Victoire surrendered just one goal on 28 attempts–good for a League-best 96.4 success rate on the PK.
The underlying metrics reflect kindly on the Victoire, too. Their 55.8 expected-goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 leads the League, per PWHL Analytics. No team is without flaws, but Montreal has mastered its strengths.
4. New York Sirens (18 points, 6-0-0-5)
Last Week’s Ranking: 5 (+1)
New York set a new franchise record with its fourth consecutive win, defeating the Toronto Sceptres 2-0 on Tuesday. Once again, goalie Kayle Osborne and rookie phenom Kristyna Kaltounkova were at the center of everything.
Osborne stopped all 31 shots for her third shutout in her League-leading 11th start of the season. Kaltounkova scored both goals to raise her season tally to seven, one shy of the PWHL lead.
Perhaps it’s too reductive to chalk up all of New York’s success to two players, but there’s no denying that Osborne and Kaltounkova are integral to the Sirens’ resurgence. Osborne’s excellence earned her a first-time Olympic nomination with Team Canada, and Kaltounkova’s quick emergence helped shield a slower offensive start for last season’s Rookie of the Year, Sarah Fillier.
A Jan. 16 matchup against the Frost looms as a big measuring-stick game for the Sirens’ defense, but if they’ve proven anything over this past month, New York is not to be overlooked.
5. Ottawa Charge (17 points, 3-4-0-5)
Last Week’s Ranking: 7 (+2)
Heading into a Dec. 21 contest against the Frost, the Charge had one win to show for their 2025-26 season. So the fact that they now occupy a playoff spot in mid-January is nothing short of exemplary.
The Charge have two regulation victories during their six-game winning streak (2-4-0-0). But the bottom line is they’ve found ways to win. Ottawa defeated Vancouver 4-2 on Friday, and eked out a 2-1 shootout win against Frankel and the Fleet on Sunday.
It’s been an impressive stretch for Charge forward Brianne Jenner, who’s tallied seven points (two goals, five assists) during the winning streak. Jenner delivered the third-period equalizer against Boston, which now puts her one goal and one point shy of the League lead in both categories.
Backup goalie Sanni Ahola also deserves credit for making 31 saves against Boston to secure her first PWHL win.
Warts remain. Ottawa’s 40.5 expected-goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 is still last in the League, in part due to persistent defensive issues. That suggests this newfound success may not be sustainable. Then again, good teams find ways to win, and few have been better than the Charge in that department of late.
6. Seattle Torrent (12 points, 3-1-1-5)
Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (-2)
After back-to-back losses last week, the Torrent remain at the bottom of the PWHL standings, tied with Vancouver at 12 points.
Seattle showed some good third-period life Wednesday but fell 2-1 to the Fleet despite another promising start in net from Corinne Schroeder. It’s harder to find positives in a 6-2 loss to Minnesota, when rookie goalie Hannah Murphy allowed six goals on 45 shots.
Murphy isn’t solely to blame for the lopsided loss. After all, surrendering 45 shots on goal isn’t a recipe for success. But with Seattle’s offense lacking consistency, it’s hard not to key in on goalie play as the ultimate decider between wins and losses right now.
After stopping 84 of 87 shots to start her PWHL career, Murphy allowed 10 goals in her past two games. She faced upwards of 40 shots in each contest, so the problems extend beyond some first-year struggles, and are more team-focused.
Schroeder has a 2.29 GAA and .921 save percentage in her past three games, and looks more like the starter the Torrent envisioned. Perhaps that means she’ll take on a larger share of the workload moving forward.
In the long run, Seattle is likely best served by maintaining a healthy balance between Murphy and Schroeder. But without improved play from the skaters in front of them, the Torrent will have a tough time climbing back up the standings.
7. Toronto Sceptres (15 points, 4-0-3-4)
Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (-1)
Make it three straight losses for the Sceptres, who haven’t eclipsed two goals in their past four games.
The Sirens kept Toronto’s lone source of consistent offensive production–Daryl Watts–off the scoreboard Tuesday, snapping her five-game points streak. No one else was able to pick up the slack, and the Sceptres were shut out for the first time this season.
“I just thought we were putting it to [Osborne] without purpose,” Sceptres coach Troy Ryan said postgame.
Toronto’s 6.1 shooting percentage is worst in the PWHL, and a direct reflection of its season-long finishing woes. The Sceptres are one of two teams averaging less than two goals per game, alongside the last-place Goldeneyes.
That’s not company they’d like to keep, and it’s puzzling for a squad that has scoring talent in the lineup. If it doesn’t turn around, it’s hard to see the Sceptres making any noise this season.
8. Vancouver Goldeneyes (12 points, 3-1-1-7)
Last Week’s Ranking: 8 (–)
Vancouver couldn’t turn an inspiring win over Boston into any substantial momentum. The Goldeneyes followed up their 4-3 comeback win last Sunday with a pair of losses to the Charge and Victoire.
Their 1.75 goals per game remains last in the PWHL and the Goldeneyes were shut out for the second time in four contests. Vancouver wasted a solid performance from Kristen Campbell on Friday and a gem from Maschmeyer on Sunday, culminating in another disappointing week.
The Goldeneyes are five points out of a playoff spot with the lowest point percentage in the League (.333). Ottawa proved a turnaround can happen in a flash, but it’ll take a jump-start offensively to restore faith in this struggling group.
