Tuesday, January 7, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Prudential Center
WATCH LIVE: MSGSNHD/MSGSNZ1/MSGSNZ2, Prime Video (Canada), PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International)
David Korzeniowski (Play-by-Play), Gigi Marvin (Analyst), Julie Stewart-Binks (Reporter)
OTTAWA CHARGE
3-0-1-3 | 10 PTS | 4TH PLACE
Top Scorer: Tereza Vanišová – 7 GP, 3-3-6 PTS
Last Game: 2-1 W at TOR on Dec. 31
NEW YORK SIRENS
3-1-1-2 | 12 PTS | 3RD PLACE
Top Scorer: Alex Carpenter – 7 GP, 5-5-10 PTS
Last Game: 5-0 W at MIN on Jan. 4
2024-25 SEASON SERIES: OTTAWA LEADS 3-0 IN POINTS (OTT WON 7-5 IN 2024)
Dec. 29 at NY: 3-1 OTT | Jan. 7 at NY | Jan. 27 at OTT | Feb. 26 at OTT | Mar. 22 at NY | Mar. 25 at OTT
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Charge are playing a fifth straight game on the road since Dec. 17 while the City of Ottawa hosted the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. The team has won two straight games, including a 3-1 victory over the Sirens in their first meeting of the season at Prudential Center on Dec. 29.
Emerance Maschmeyer will be making her third straight start and seventh overall. She has allowed one goal in each of her last two games (against New York and Toronto) and leads the PWHL with a .938 save percentage. It is the third time in her career allowing one or zero goals in consecutive games, but she has never done it in three straight games.
Tonight, Ottawa will be without forward Kateřina Mrázová and defenders Ronja Savolainen and Jincy Roese, each nursing day-to-day injuries. Mrázová assisted on the first goal and scored the third goal in the team’s 3-1 win against New York to extend her point streak to four games against the Sirens. It is the longest point streak against any single team in her career.
Both of Ottawa’s goals in their 2-1 victory against Toronto were scored by Savolainen and Roese. The Charge lead the PWHL with five total goals scored by their defenders this season (the Sirens are tied for second with three).
Sam Isbell will step into the lineup tonight for her first game of the season after signing a 10-day contract from the team’s reserves. The versatile defender appeared in 10 games last season, including three with Boston and seven with Ottawa.
Acquired by a trade with Toronto on Dec. 30, Victoria Bach and Jocelyne Larocque will play in their second games for Ottawa.
New York shut out Minnesota, 5-0, for the first shutout in the PWHL this season. The five-goal victory now stands as the largest margin of victory in a PWHL game all-time, regular or postseason.
Jessie Eldridge tallied a goal and two assists against Minnesota, her league-leading third multi-point game this season (Sirens are 2-1-0-0 in those three games). The three points were a career high and matched a season high for a Siren (Alex Carpenter and Sarah Fillier).
Carpenter and Fillier have each had a point on six different goals this season (either as assisters or goal scorers), including one in their last game. That is the most goals combined on by any pair of PWHL teammates. Carpenter enters the game riding a record seven-game point streak.
Ella Shelton will make her home debut tonight. The defender suffered an injury in the season-opener in Minnesota on Dec. 1 and returned to action for Saturday’s game against the Frost and contributed her second assist of the campaign. Last season, she scored a goal and two assists in New York’s 4-3 win over Ottawa on Apr. 30.
Allyson Simpson enters the game ranked third overall in shots on goal with 24 and leads all defenders and rookies in the category. She trails Laura Stacey (30) and Hilary Knight (29).
Goaltender Kayle Osborne will be making her first PWHL start tonight. Her first appearance came in relief for Abbey Levy on Dec. 22 against Minnesota, helping the Sirens battle back to send the game to a shootout. She played 45:00, recording 18 saves on 19 shots despite the 4-3 loss.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“We’re still looking for consistency. We’re trying to be a little cleaner in our puck management. We want to make sure the giveaways are not as high as they have been in recent games. We’ve got to have a shooting mentality. We’ve got to get pucks at goalies from all different angles. We must be harder to play against. We must play faster. We’ve been working on it all week in practice.” - Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod.
“We’re coming off of a strong performance and want to keep that momentum going against Ottawa. It’s about building on what we did well, staying focused on the details, and continuing to elevate our game. Every game is a new challenge, and we’re excited to take another step forward as a team.” – Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo.
TUESDAY’S GAME: New York hosts Ottawa for the second time in 10 days at Prudential Center. A regulation win for the Sirens would move them into sole possession of first place, while three points for the Charge would leapfrog them into third place in the standings. New York leads the league in offense with 3.29 goals-per-game, a full goal more than Ottawa’s 2.29 average.