NEW YORK AND TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) returned to action with the busiest week of the 2025-26 season, featuring nine games including the launch of the PWHL Takeover Tour™. Two more Tour stops are on this week’s six-game schedule.
PWHL TAKEOVER TOUR COMING TO EDMONTON AND DALLAS
The PWHL returns to Rogers Place on Saturday for the DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour presented by Explore Edmonton with the Minnesota Frost taking on the Vancouver Goldeneyes. It’s a homecoming for goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer of Bruderheim, AB who also had the opportunity to experience last season’s sold-out crowd of 17,518 in Edmonton when Ottawa met Toronto in one of nine Takeover Tour games on the schedule. On Sunday in Dallas, the PWHL Takeover Tour presented by BJ’s Wholesale Club, will also be a special game for Texas natives Hannah Bilka and Allyson Simpson as their Seattle Torrent and New York Sirens go head-to-head at American Airlines Center for the first time. The players will also be in the building and recognized on Saturday night when the Dallas Stars take on the Chicago Blackhawks following a day filled with open team practices and autograph sessions. See the full Takeover Tour schedule and all public events here.
BONUS HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS HALIFAX AND CHICAGO DEBUTS
The PWHL’s first of two trips to Halifax and Chicago as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour launch last week did not disappoint fans as both games extended beyond regulation. On Wednesday at a sold-out Scotiabank Centre, the season’s first shootout decided the outcome for Montréal in a 2-1 victory over Toronto. Then, on Sunday at Allstate Arena, overtime heroics lifted Ottawa to a 3-2 triumph over Minnesota. Both games had local flair, with Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull, alternate captain Allie Munroe, head coach Troy Ryan, and Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie returning to their home province of Nova Scotia, while Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and Charge forward Taylor House returned home to Illinois. Off the ice in Halifax, members of the Victoire visited a local French school and the teams were welcomed to the rink by bagpipes as Turnbull and Munroe wore their old Team Nova Scotia jerseys for walk-ins. Among the Chicago highlights, Coyne Schofield and some of her teammates met fans at the AHL’s Wolves game, and House’s former Chicago Fury teammates gave one of the most energetic lineup reads of the season. Follow all PWHL results here.
COMPHER RECORDS FIRST CAREER THREE-POINT PERFORMANCE
Toronto forward Jesse Compher has been named the PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja after recording the first multi-goal and three-point performance of her career. The 26-year-old from Northbrook, IL scored both goals and served a primary assist in Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Sirens and finished her two-game week with five shots as the Sceptres earned four of a possible six points in the standings. She leads the team with four points (2G, 2A) in six games.
DUEL AT THE TOP RETURNS TO BELL CENTRE
On the heels of their Takeover Tour battle in Halifax, Montréal and Toronto will meet for the third time this month on Saturday at the Bell Centre for the third annual Duel at the Top presented by Scotiabank. Back on Apr. 20, 2024 during the inaugural season, the game between the Canadian rivals set a world attendance record for a women’s hockey game, with 21,105 fans filling the Bell Centre stands as Toronto defeated Montréal 3-2 in overtime. Last season’s game also required overtime, with Montréal defeating Boston 3-2 on Mar. 1, 2025.
PWHL SETS WEEKLY ATTENDANCE RECORD
Last week’s nine-game schedule generated the highest attendance for a single week period (Monday through Sunday) in PWHL history with attendance reaching 72,082. Through 25 games of the 2025-26 PWHL season, total attendance is 198,402 for a per game average of 7,936.
BOSTON STAYS IN FIRST, MONTRÉAL STREAKING UP STANDINGS
Boston (6-0-0-1) set a new team record with five consecutive regulation wins before suffering their first loss of the season against Minnesota on Friday, then became the first of the league’s original six teams to beat both expansion teams with a Sunday win in Seattle to bring their point total to 18. Montréal (3-1-0-1) is in second place with 11 points and are riding the league’s longest active win streak at four games, two shy of their team record of six set last season. Toronto (3-0-1-2) and Minnesota (3-1-0-2) share equal records and occupy the next two spots in the standings with 10 points each. Vancouver (2-1-0-4) became the first team in PWHL history to win their first three home games of their inaugural season but lost the fourth game at Pacific Coliseum and sit in fifth place with eight points. Seattle (2-0-1-2) had a two-game home streak snapped and are in sixth place with seven points. New York (2-0-0-5) has dropped their last four games in seventh place with six points, and Ottawa (1-1-0-5) broke their four-game losing streak to end the week in eighth place with five points. See full PWHL standings here.
BOSTON BY THE NUMBERS
The Fleet’s early season fortunes can be measured in a number of ways across PWHL leaderboards through the first 25 games of the campaign. The team has the best goal differential (+10), the league’s best power play (27.8%) and the league’s only perfect penalty kill (100.0%). Boston leads the league with 18 goals and 17 different skaters with at least one point. Their six goals by defenders are also the most in the PWHL, along with their seven goals from four different rookies. The Fleet are also the first team to have every skater from its 2025 draft class record a point with the five-player group totaling 12 points to date.
PANNEK, CURL-SALEMME, KELLER, COYNE SCHOFIELD HEADLINE TOP SCORERS
A pair of Frost forwards are tied for the PWHL scoring lead with eight points in six games including Kelly Pannek (3G, 5A) and Britta Curl-Salemme (2G, 6A). Both players are the only PWHL skaters so far this season with a trio of multi-point performances and 15 of their combined 16 points have been recorded at even strength. Fleet captain Megan Keller (3G, 4A) leads all defenders in scoring and ranks third among all skaters with seven points in seven games. Her two power play goals are tied for the PWHL lead and she’s the first skater to produce a four-game point streak this season. Coyne Schofield is one of four players with six points and leads the league with five goals. See this season’s PWHL leaders here.
FRANKEL AND DESBIENS TOP GOALTENDING RANKS
Boston’s Aerin Frankel became the league’s first goaltender to reach five wins and three shutouts this season following a 2-0 victory over New York last Wednesday. Her 0.83 goals-against-average and .969 save percentage are both top marks in the PWHL. Right behind is Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens with three wins, one shutout, a 0.99 GAA and .966 SV%. She became the first goaltender to record a shootout victory this season, stopping all five attempts for the third time in her last four shootouts. See this season’s PWHL goaltending leaders here.
GUILDAY, KALTOUNKOVÁ, MURPHY AMONG ROOKIES TO WATCH
Ottawa’s Rory Guilday (1G, 4A) is the first PWHL rookie to reach five points this season. The defender chosen fifth overall in June’s draft has contributed on the scoresheet in four of her seven games this season, the most among all Charge skaters. New York first overall pick Kristýna Kaltounková became the first PWHL rookie to record a two-goal game on Sunday at Prudential Center, including the Sirens first power play goal of the season. Seattle second-rounder Hannah Murphy is a perfect 2-0 in the crease to launch her professional career with a 1.00 GAA and .959 SV%. See this season’s PWHL rookie leaders here.
FLURRY OF FIRST GOALS
More than a quarter of last week’s 41 goals were milestone markers as 11 PWHL players found the back of the net for the first time in their regular season careers. Of the 11 players, seven are playing in their first season and four are second year veterans. Of the rookie class, Boston had a trio of draft picks score for the first time including third-round pick Olivia Mobley in her second game, second-round pick Ella Huber in her fifth game, and fourth-round pick Riley Brengman scored in both her sixth and seventh games, including the first shorthanded ‘jailbreak’ goal for a rookie this season. Montréal fifth-round pick Maya Labad scored in her PWHL debut on her first career shot in Wednesday’s Takeover Tour game in Halifax. Ottawa second-round pick Anna Shokhina scored in her fourth game and third-round pick Sarah Wozniewicz became the first rookie to score an overtime goal this season in her seventh game in Chicago. Richmond, BC native Katie Chan, who signed with Vancouver out of training camp, scored in front of her hometown crowd in her sixth game. Of the veterans, Boston defender Daniela Pejšová got her first goal in her 35th career game, Minnesota’s Mae Batherson became the first Frost defender to score this season in her 31st career game, Montréal forward Dara Greig scored in her 34th career game, and Toronto defender Anna Kjellbin scored in her 30th regular season game after previously scoring in the playoffs. There have been 69 different goal scorers so far this PWHL season including 13 rookies.
FIRST WINS FOR ABSTREITER AND LEVY
Montréal’s Sandra Abstreiter recorded her first career PWHL victory on Saturday with 27 saves against Vancouver. The German netminder spent the 2024-25 season with the Victoire but did not see any game action and previously made three appearances for Ottawa during the inaugural season. Boston’s Abbey Levy earned a win in her Fleet debut on Sunday, stopping 26 shots against Seattle. It marks the first regulation victory of her PWHL career and just her second professional win all-time following a shootout triumph with New York back on Feb. 1, 2024.
SEATTLE HOSTS FIRST UNITY GAME
On Sunday, Seattle hosted an Indigenous Peoples Celebration, the first as part of the PWHL’s Unity Game series, which celebrates diverse cultures and communities and promotes a welcoming and inclusive PWHL game experience for all. A one-of-one paddle carved and painted by Lummi Nation artist David Wilson, exclusively for the game, is being auctioned on The Realest platform with proceeds benefitting Red Soaring Eagle.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
A Tuesday doubleheader between Ottawa and Toronto at Coca-Cola Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Montréal and Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena at 10 p.m. ET, will take the PWHL schedule into a short holiday break. The action will resume Saturday with three games, including Boston at Ottawa at 12 p.m. ET, the Duel at the Top between Montréal and Toronto at the Bell Centre at 2 p.m. ET, and the Takeover Tour game in Edmonton between Minnesota and Vancouver at 3 p.m. ET. The week wraps up with more Takeover Tour action in Dallas between Seattle and New York at 6 p.m. ET. Full broadcast details are below and available online here.
Tuesday, December 23 – 7 PM ET
Ottawa Charge at Toronto Sceptres (Coca-Cola Coliseum)
- Canada: Prime Video
- U.S. (Out of Market): Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network, KCRG-TV 9/Ottumwa–Kirksville CW (Iowa), Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, Peachtree Sports Network, Rock Entertainment Sports Network, South Texas Sports, Tennessee Valley Sports Network
Tuesday, December 23 – 10 PM ET
Montréal Victoire at Seattle Torrent (Climate Pledge Arena)
- Canada: Prime Video
- U.S. (In-Market): FOX 13+
- U.S. (Out of Market): NESN+ (Boston), SNP (Pittsburgh)
Saturday, December 27 – 12 PM ET
Boston Fleet at Ottawa Charge (TD Place)
- Canada: Sportsnet
- U.S. (In-Market): NESN
- U.S. (Out of Market): Matrix Midwest (St. Louis), SNP (Pittsburgh)
Saturday, December 27 – 2 PM ET – Duel at the Top
Toronto Sceptres at Montréal Victoire (Bell Centre)
- Canada: CBC and CBC Gem, Radio-Canada
- U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports
Saturday, December 27 – 3 PM ET – PWHL Takeover Tour
Minnesota Frost vs. Vancouver Goldeneyes (Rogers Place – Edmonton)
- Canada: Sportsnet
- U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North, FOX 9+
- U.S. (Out of Market): FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, FOX 10 Xtra Phoenix, Matrix Midwest (St. Louis), NESN+ (Boston), SNP (Pittsburgh)
Sunday, December 28 – 6 PM ET – PWHL Takeover Tour
Seattle Torrent vs. New York Sirens (American Airlines Center – Dallas)
- Canada: Sportsnet 360
- U.S. (In-Market): FOX 13+, MSG, More 27 Dallas
- U.S. (Out of Market): FanDuel Sports Network (Florida, Midwest, North, South, Southwest, West, Wisconsin), FOX 11+ Los Angeles, Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), NESN (Boston), SNP+ (Pittsburgh)
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