Montréal and Ottawa set for Game 3 of the PWHL Walter Cup Finals presented by Scotiabank
Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (May 18, 2026) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Walter Cup Finals presented by Scotiabank could end tonight with a win by the Montréal Victoire, as they lead the best-of-five championship series 2-0, while the Ottawa Charge look to stay alive on home ice with Game 3 at Canadian Tire Centre coming up at 6 p.m. ET. Here’s a closer look at all the action.
GAME 3 AT A GLANCE
The Victoire won each of the first two games of the all-Canadian series in overtime and have defeated the Charge in five of six meetings across the full season, including a 3-0 victory in their last visit to Canadian Tire Centre on Apr. 3. Ottawa won both of their playoff home games against Boston in the semifinals and are 5-1 all-time at home in postseason action, while Montréal is 1-4 all-time in playoff road games. The last six games of the Walter Cup Finals, dating back to the start of the 2025 series, have been decided in overtime. Both teams are 0-for-4 on the power play in the series. The only three-game sweep in playoff history occurred in the 2024 semifinals with Boston over Montréal, and the only team to overcome a two-game playoff deficit was also in the inaugural season semifinals with Minnesota coming back to win three straight games over Toronto. If successful, the Victoire would become the first team to finish in first place in the regular season and win the Walter Cup, otherwise the Charge would be the third straight fourth-place team to win the title. Regardless of the outcome, the series winner will be the first Canadian team to hoist the Walter Cup. Click here for more.
PLAYOFF ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Tonight’s crowd at Canadian Tire Centre will set a new single-game playoff attendance record, surpassing Ottawa’s crowd of 13,112 for Game 3 of their semifinal series on May 8. Attendance through 11 playoff games this season stands at 83,831 fans and will break the inaugural season playoff record of 91,271 fans in 13 games. Last season’s playoffs saw 84,040 fans attend 12 games. Attendance in 131 games of the entire 2025-26 season has climbed to 1,200,328 fans for an average of 9,163 per game.
POULIN LEADS PLAYOFF SCORING
Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin has points in three straight games and leads all playoff scorers with seven points in seven games and has been named the PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja. The 35-year-old Victoire captain tallied four points last week, including the winning goal and an assist in Game 5 of the semifinal series against the Frost last Tuesday, and an assist in each of the first two games of the finals against the Charge. Her seven playoff points includes two goals and five assists and is one point shy of the single-season playoff record shared by Taylor Heise (5G, 3A) and Michela Cava (4G, 4A) in 10 games with Minnesota during the 2024 postseason, and Frost defender Lee Stecklein (4G, 4A) in eight games in 2025.
ALL-CANADIAN CAPTAINS
Poulin or Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner will be the first Canadian captain to hoist the Walter Cup, but it’s not the first time the duo has faced off in a championship series. Their respective teams met three times in the CWHL finals, with Jenner winning the Clarkson Cup with the Calgary Inferno in 2016 — though Poulin missed the playoffs that season due to injury — and 2019, while Poulin’s Canadiennes de Montréal were victorious in the 2017 encounter. The pair are two of the most decorated members of Canada’s National Women’s Team, sharing the ice as teammates for two Olympic gold medals (2014, 2022) and four IIHF Women’s World Championship titles (2012, 2021, 2022, 2024).
PLAYOFF LEADERS
Victoire forwards Laura Stacey (3G, 3A) and Abby Roque (2G, 4A) are tied for second behind Poulin with six points in seven games, followed by Charge forwards Rebecca Leslie (3G, 2A) and Fanuza Kadirova (2G, 3A) with five points in six games each. Frost defender Sidney Morin’s four goals in five games continue to lead the playoffs and her four points are tied with Ottawa’s Jocelyne Larocque (1G, 3A) for most among rearguards. Ottawa’s Sarah Wozniewicz is riding a three-game point streak (2G, 1A) and is tied for the rookie scoring lead with Montréal defender Nicole Gosling (1G, 2A). The pair are the only two rookies to score so far this postseason, while defenders have accounted for one third of all playoff goals (15/45). Click here, opens in a new tab to see top playoff scorers.
COMPETITION IN THE CREASE
The margins are razor thin between Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens and Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips in the battle between the pipes. Both goaltenders have exactly 185 saves (.939 SV%) and have surrendered 12 goals each this postseason, with Desbiens doing so in seven games (1.49 GAA) compared to Philips’ six (1.82 GAA). Desbiens has allowed one or fewer goals in 21 total games this season, most in the PWHL, while Philips leads the way with 22 games with 25 or more saves. Tonight’s game will be the 15th for each in their playoff careers, tied with Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney for most all-time. Click here, opens in a new tab to see top playoff goaltenders.
FLAHERTY AND CAVA CHASE THIRD WALTER CUP
The league’s first-ever three-time Walter Cup champion will be crowned at the end of the series in either Montréal’s Maggie Flaherty or Ottawa’s Cava who were teammates each of the last two seasons with Minnesota. Both have come through in the clutch for their new teams this postseason, with Flaherty scoring the overtime winner in Game 2, and Cava scoring the double-overtime winner in Game 4 of the semifinals. Cava’s 24 career playoff games, entering tonight, are most all-time, while Flaherty’s 23 games are tied with former Frost teammates Heise, Stecklein, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek, and Grace Zumwinkle.
TRIPLE GOLD CLUB
The winning team will add five members to the prestigious Triple Gold Club, representing players who have won a Walter Cup championship, Olympic gold medal, and World Championship gold in their careers. Should the Victoire win, the list will include Canadians Desbiens, Poulin, Stacey and Erin Ambrose, and American Hayley Scamurra. For the Charge, the list would include Canadians Jenner, Larocque and Emily Clark, and Americans Philips and Rory Guilday. The American players would become the first-ever to win Olympic gold and the Walter Cup in the same season. Nine players are current Triple Gold Club members, including Coyne Schofield, Heise, Pannek, Rooney, Stecklein, Zumwinkle, Britta Curl-Salemme, Nicole Hensley and Claire Thompson.
WINNING IN THEIR HOME PROVINCE
The first Canadian champion will have no fewer than six players representing their team’s home province. For Montréal, the list of Québec players includes Desbiens (Clermont), Poulin (Beauceville), Jade Downie-Landry (St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu), Catherine Dubois (Québec), Maya Labad (Mascouche), and Alexandra Labelle (St-Louis-De-Gonzague). For Ottawa, the list of Ontario players includes Cava (Thunder Bay), Jenner (Oakville), Emma Greco (Burlington), Rebecca Leslie (Ottawa), Brooke McQuigge (Bowmanville), Alexa Vasko (St. Catharines), and Olivia Wallin (Oakville).
PLAYOFF OFFICIATING TEAM
The PWHL has selected a veteran crew of four referees and four linespersons for the finals, with all eight members a part of the officiating team since the inaugural season. The referees include Jared Cummins (Buffalo, NY), Sydney Harris (Denver, CO), Jake Kamrass (Atlanta, GA), and Lacey Senuk (Toronto, ON). The linespersons include Patrick Dapuzzo (Rutherford, NJ), Laura Gutauskas (Woolwich, ON), Dustin McCrank (Guelph, ON), and Sophie Thomson (Halifax, NS). Cummins and Kamrass return to the finals for the first time since 2024, Dapuzzo, Harris, McCrank and Thompson return to the finals for a second straight season, Gutauskas for a third straight season, and Senuk is making her first finals appearance.
THE WALTER CUP
The Walter Cup was created in partnership with global luxury jeweler, Tiffany & Co. The Walter Cup is named in recognition of the historic commitment made by the Walter family – Mark and Kimbra Walter and their daughter, Samantha, that provided the financial support that launched the PWHL. Its permanent home is at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto where it is showcased within the ‘Women’s Hockey – Celebrating Excellence’ display along with artifacts from the league’s first three seasons. Weighing 35 pounds and 24 inches tall, it features a removable base for the engraved name of each year's winning team.
SCORES AND SCHEDULE
Game 1: Thursday, May 14
Ottawa (2) at Montréal (3) OT
Game 2: Saturday, May 16
Ottawa (1) at Montréal (2) OT
Game 3: Monday, May 18
Montréal at Ottawa at 6 p.m. ET (Canadian Tire Centre)
Game 4: Wednesday, May 20*
Montréal at Ottawa at 7 p.m. ET (Canadian Tire Centre)
Game 5: Saturday, May 23*
Ottawa at Montréal at 12:30 p.m. ET (Place Bell)
*if necessary
The PWHL Walter Cup Finals air nationally in the U.S. on ION, The E.W. Scripps Company's national sports and entertainment network and are available on thepwhl.com and the league’s YouTube channel. TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Walter Cup Finals in Canada. Following all games, visit the league’s YouTube channel for live reaction with Jocks in Jills.