PWHL Playoffs begin May 8
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (May 7, 2024) – Here’s a look at highlights from the last week of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season, plus a look ahead to the PWHL Playoffs.
CHASING THE CHAMPIONSHIP
After 126 days and 72 games played since Jan. 1, the final standings are confirmed, and the playoff matchups have been determined between the top four teams who will be Chasing the Championship. Toronto (13-4-0-7) finished in first place with 47 points, followed by Montréal (10-3-5-6) in second place with 41 points. Boston (8-4-3-9) and Minnesota (8-4-3-9) both finished with 35 points, with Boston earning third place by virtue of their three overtime wins compared to Minnesota’s two overtime wins. As the first-place team, Toronto earned the opportunity to select its semifinal opponent and chose to face Minnesota. They will compete in a best-of-five series beginning Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum, with Montréal to play Boston in a best-of-five series beginning Thursday night at Place Bell. The winners of each series will advance to the PWHL Finals where they will compete for the Walter Cup.
2024 PWHL DRAFT ORDER OF SELECTION
New York (5-4-3-12) finished in sixth place with 26 points, including six ‘Draft Order Points’ in three games following their elimination from playoff contention to earn the first overall pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft. Ottawa (8-1-6-9) finished the season in fifth place with 32 points and will select second overall in the draft. The draft order of selection among the four playoff teams is based on the inverse order of the regular-season standings with Minnesota selecting third overall, Boston fourth, Montréal fifth, and Toronto selecting sixth. The draft will utilize a traditional format, in which once a round is completed, the following round will be conducted in the same order as the previous round. The deadline for players to officially declare for the draft is Wednesday, May 8. The 2024 PWHL Draft will be held in Minnesota in June. See final standings here.
BOSTON AND TORONTO FINISH WITH SELL-OUT CROWDS AT HOME
On Saturday afternoon, PWHL Boston celebrated Fan Appreciation in front of a sold-out crowd against Montréal at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell with 5,964 fans in attendance. The team played 11 home games at the Tsongas Center, including eight games above 4,000 fans, for an average of 3,770 per game. Fan Appreciation was also the theme during Sunday’s season finale in Toronto with a sold-out crowd of 2,620 which represents the largest crowd for a game at Mattamy Athletic Centre this season. PWHL Toronto sold-out all 12 of its home games, including the Battle on Bay Street played Feb. 16 against Montréal at Scotiabank Arena with 19,285 in attendance, for an overall average of 3,912 fans per game. The league’s total attendance in 72 regular-season games is 392,259 – an average of 5,448 per game.
FINISHING STRONG
On Saturday afternoon, New York scored a season-high five goals in a 5-2 victory over Minnesota and recorded back-to-back regulation wins for the first time all season. Boston also finished the season with consecutive wins in regulation, capped with a 4-3 triumph over Montréal, and a season-high five-game point streak that included four wins and 13 of a possible 15 points since returning from the International Break. Toronto’s 5-2 victory over Ottawa on Sunday extended their winning streak to four, including three straight wins in regulation. On the flip side, Ottawa ended its season with three straight losses, and Minnesota ended on a season-high five-game losing streak. See all results here.
SPOONER IS POINTS LEADER AND TOP GOAL SCORER
Toronto’s Natalie Spooner officially claims the league’s first two regular-season awards as the 2024 PWHL Points Leader (27) and Top Goal Scorer (20). She finished with a league-high 1.13 points-per-game average and led the league with seven powerplay goals and five game winners. A trio of players finished tied for second in points with 23, including Toronto’s Sarah Nurse (11G 12A), Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin (10G 13A), and New York’s Alex Carpenter (8G 15A). New York’s Ella Shelton (7G 14A) finished fifth in scoring and led all defenders with 21 points. Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner (9G 11A) reached the 20-point plateau, followed by a pair of top scoring rookies in Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle (11G 8A), and Toronto’s Emma Maltais (4G 15A) with 19 points each. Maltais tied Carpenter for the league-lead with 15 assists. See all points leaders here.
CAMPBELL REACHES SWEET 16
Toronto’s Kristen Campbell finished the season with four straight wins between-the-pipes to bring her league-leading total to 16 victories in 22 games. She also recorded a league-high three shutouts, with a goals-against-average of 1.99 that ranks second, and a save percentage of .927 that ranks fourth. Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer finished second in the league with nine wins and two shutouts in 23 games. Montréal’s Elaine Chuli led the way with a 1.61 GAA and .949 SV% in eight games. Boston’s Aerin Frankel ranks third in wins (8), GAA (2.00), and SV% (.929). New York’s Corinne Schroeder finished second in SV% at .930, and Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens is fifth with a mark of .923. Minnesota tied Toronto with three shutout wins split between Maddie Rooney (2) and Nicole Hensley (1). See goaltender stats here.
FIRST GOALS FOR GRANT-MENTIS
Montréal forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis scored her first and second career PWHL goals this past week, bringing the league’s total to 96 different goal scorers throughout the season. Both of her tallies were recorded on the powerplay during the third period of Saturday’s game against Boston, converting on her 20th and 21st shots on goal this season. It was Grant-Mentis’ seventh game played for Montréal and 13th game overall after beginning the year in Ottawa.
FIRST WIN FOR POST
New York’s Lindsey Post recorded her first career PWHL win in her first start of the season on Saturday against Minnesota. She made 30 saves and earned first star honors in the 5-2 victory less than a week after making her debut on Apr. 28 against Toronto when she stopped all five shots faced in 14:31 of action. Post became the 12th different goaltender to win a game this season with New York being the only team across the league to give three different goaltenders playing time.
BY THE NUMBERS
Of the 72 PWHL games played during the regular-season, 52 ended in regulation, 13 in overtime, and seven decided in a shootout. A total of 341 goals were scored by 96 different players, including 260 produced at even strength, 68 on the powerplay, and 13 shorthanded markers. A total of 549 assists were recorded by 113 different players to bring the league’s individual point total to 890 from 120 different contributors. Goaltenders faced a total of 4,142 shots and posted 11 shutouts.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
The first four games of the PWHL Playoffs will be played this week, beginning Wednesday night when Toronto hosts Minnesota in the first game of their semifinal series at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Game two of the series will be played on Friday. Montréal will also open the playoffs at home and welcome Boston to Place Bell on Thursday night, followed by game two of their semifinal series on Saturday. All game times are 7:00 p.m. ET.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Minnesota at Toronto (Coca-Cola Coliseum)
Thursday, May 9, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Boston at Montréal (Place Bell)
Friday, May 10, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Minnesota at Toronto (Coca-Cola Coliseum)
Saturday, May 11, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Boston at Montréal (Place Bell)
TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Playoffs with every game on TSN, TSN.ca, and the TSN app, with French-language coverage of all Montréal games and the PWHL Finals available on RDS. Regionally, Boston games will continue to be available on NESN, Minnesota games on Bally Sports North, and select games throughout the PWHL Playoffs on MSG Networks. All games will be streamed live on the league’s YouTube channel.
Visit thepwhl.com to purchase tickets and merchandise, and subscribe to the PWHL e-newsletter to receive the latest league updates. Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus all six team accounts @pwhl_boston, @pwhl_minnesota, @pwhl_montreal, @pwhl_newyork, @pwhl_ottawa, and @pwhl_toronto.