PWHL Power Rankings: Boston sits atop the leaderboard after big win over Montreal
I think we now have an idea of who the leader of the clubhouse is.
Following a massive come-from-behind win over the Montreal Victoire on Sunday afternoon, the Boston Fleet maintained their spot atop the PWHL standings. Not only did the win keep the team in first place, but it also solidified the team’s posture as one of the league’s best.
We saw a couple of notable performances this week, as the chase for the final playoff spot begins to heat up heading into the trade deadline.
Ben Steiner, Scott Maxwell and Tyler Kuehl come together to see who is chasing down the Fleet in this week’s Power Rankings.
1. Boston Fleet
Record: 9-5-2-3, +14
Last Week: 2nd (+1)
Ben’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler’s Rank: 1st
Ben: Top spot in this week’s power rankings for me came down to the Sunday clash between the Boston Fleet and Montréal Victoire in Laval, where the Fleet managed to come away with a 4-3 overtime win, courtesy of Ella Huber’s winning goal.
It was a busy week for the Fleet. Still, they came out of it with four of a possible nine points, including a Tuesday win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes in overtime, another game in which Olympic golden goal hero Megan Keller played a key part in the tiebreaking procedures.
The loss to Seattle was a shock, but considering how much hockey the team played this week, coming away with two of three wins, even with the overtime tax, should be considered pretty good.
Tyler: In sports, there are only a few instances every season when a regular-season win can mean almost as much as a playoff victory. The Fleet experienced that on Sunday. Yes, Marie-Philip Poulin left the game early, but the Victoire had a 3-0 lead well into the third period. However, Boston’s resilience showed this is a tight-knit team that hates to lose. The best part of that win was the players who stepped up. While Keller and Tapani scored late to tie the game, we saw Loren Gabel score her first goal since February of last year, and Ella Huber play the hero in OT. Depth and determination are what breed champions.
I take the loss to the Torrent with a grain of salt. Back-to-backs are never easy, especially when you have to travel from one side of the continent to the other.
The Fleet returns to Agganis on Tuesday night to take on the Toronto Sceptres.
2. Montreal Victoire
Record: 9-4-1-5, +19
Last Week: 1st (-1)
Ben’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler: Missed. Opportunity. Some were still skeptical whether the Victoire was truly the best team in the league. How Montreal finished proved them right. Blowing a three-goal lead, in a building they had yet to lose in this season, brings up all the red flags that have plagued the Victoire for the past two years, especially come playoff time.
I don’t know what the Victoire are thinking putting Poulin out there. They’ve been comfortably in a playoff spot for most of the season. Why play No. 29 if she’s not 100%? I mean, if it’s Poulin’s call, then I guess I understand, but this isn’t the point of the season where you need to fight through the pain to perform. First place in the league is overrated, anyway, something this team knows All Too Well (Victoire’s Version).
Ben: If overtime against the Fleet had gone a little differently in Montréal’s only game this week, then they’d still be first in these rankings. Alas, the 4-3 loss left them with just a single point, even on a night when Abby Roque posted a goal and two assists.
Going two-for-two on the power play against the Fleet is a pretty good way to go about things, though — even if Maggie Flaherty will want to ensure she brings her penalty minutes per game back down, after amassing 15 in her team’s only contest of the week.
The Victoire are off until Thursday when they host the Torrent.
3. Minnesota Frost
Record: 9-3-3-4, +18
Last Week: 3rd
Ben’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler’s Rank: 3rd
Ben: Eight goals across two games and six points from a possible six. It was a good week for the Minnesota Frost, who have both Taylor Heise and Britta Curl-Salleme atop the scoring charts ahead of the whole league. Add in Kendall Coyne-Schofield and Kelly Pannek, and suddenly four of the top seven scorers are all from the Frost.
The 4-1 win against Seattle was expected, given where the two teams stand and how 2025-26 has gone so far, but holding off the New York Sirens’ late push to a 4-3 win is impressive, and some stellar goaltending across both games brought Nicole Hensley’s save percentage to .932, good for third in the league.
Tyler: I probably would’ve thrown the Frost up to No. 2 if they hadn’t almost thrown the game away in Denver. You have the Sirens down for the count, but this league is too tight to be going through the motions at any point in the game. If you look back at the third period of the team’s win over the Seattle Torrent on Friday, Minnesota let the Torrent take the game to them. Listen, I get it, this Frost team has plenty of talent to go after a three-peat, and they probably will. However, you can’t give other teams confidence, because one day it will come back to bite you in the butt.
The Frost are back in St. Paul on Wednesday night, hosting the Ottawa Charge.
4. Ottawa Charge
Record: 5-6-1-8, -4
Last Week: 5th (+1)
Ben’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Tyler’s Rank: 4th
Ben: The Ottawa Charge are slipping in form and clinging to the final playoff spot right now. This week, they played just once and dropped one point, beating the Goldeneyes in overtime. They’re still in the thick of things, but are now within a game of the Toronto Sceptres and New York, with three teams gunning for two postseason berths.
The win was a league-leading fourth overtime victory as well. Just imagine how bad things would be if they had lost those games — and even better, how much higher in the standings they could be if winning in regulation was their strong suit.
Tyler: When in doubt, call on Sarah Wozniewicz. For some reason, despite having only scored four times this year, she finds a way to score big goals for the Charge. She certainly did so on Saturday, notching the tying goal against the Goldeneyes, with Rebecca Leslie potting another game-winner in overtime. While it might not have been three points, any victories at this point of the season for a Charge team scrapping for that last playoff spot.
I’m curious to see what Ottawa can do in this final month of the regular season. Six of its final 10 games are on home ice, but they have three games against the Sceptres and one against the Sirens, all teams they’re fighting with for fourth place.
The Charge finish up their three-game road trip on Wednesday against the Frost.
5. New York Sirens
Record: 8-0-3-9, -5
Last Week: 4th (-1)
Ben’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Tyler’s Rank: 6th
Ben: No team is working harder to join the PWHL’s elite than the New York Sirens. They pushed the Frost to the brink with a 4-3 loss this week in their only game, having thumped the Ottawa Charge 6-2 last week. At this point, it looks like Cayle Osborne’s stellar goaltending should lead them to the playoffs, where they will be a tough out, considering the likes of Sarah Fillier alongside this week’s best players, Jaime Bournbonnais and Anna Bargman.
Tyler: Oh…boy. Yes, the Sirens fought valiantly to try and come back against the two-time champs, blah, blah, blah. The fact of the matter is, once again, the Sirens faltered against a team they might have to play in the playoffs. New York has now lost five games in a row against teams in postseason positions, not ideal for a squad trying to prove that it’s worthy to be playing well into the spring.
I know I’ve been hard on the Sirens this year, but it’s because I expect better. Finishing last in consecutive seasons should light a fire under this team, but, clearly, the seed of doubt has been planted, and losses like what we saw in Denver on Sunday are like water and sun to let it grow.
The Sirens stay out west, as they prepare to face the Goldeneyes on Wednesday night.
6. Toronto Sceptres
Record: 7-1-5-8, -14
Last Week: 6th
Ben’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Tyler’s Rank: 5th
Tyler: Getting a week off can be tough, but waiting a week to play a home game didn’t seem to bother the Sceptres at all. Sure, the offense wasn’t there against the Torrent, but thankfully, Raygan Kirk was. The Ohio State product has taken the reins as the team’s No. 1 and has been exceptional for the Sceptres. Toronto has earned points in each of its past five starts, going 3-0-2-0 during that span. If Kirk can continue to play at this rate, they’re going to put a lot of pressure on the other teams for the last playoff spot.
I will say, though, if Gina Kingsbury doesn’t do anything to help the team find some offense before the deadline, it’s going to be tough for the Sceptres to make it to the postseason for the third year in a row.
Ben: The Toronto Sceptres aren’t out of it yet, but have nine games remaining, either one or two fewer than every other team in the league. This week, they picked up a vital three points with a 2-0 win over Seattle, and Raygan Kirk made 32 saves as she continues to thrive. With only one game on the schedule, Toronto didn’t have much of a chance to really change its outlook last week. Their next two games will be tough against Boston, but a point or two could set them up well to make up ground with the following matchups against Vancouver twice and the Charge.
Toronto is on the road on Tuesday, taking on the first-place Fleet.
7. Vancouver Goldeneyes
Record: 5-1-4-9, -11
Last Week: 7th
Ben’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Tyler’s Rank: 7th
Tyler: Remember when we thought the Goldeneyes’ greatest strength was playing at home? Weren’t we fooled?
Yeah, I know, both losses to the Fleet and Charge came in overtime, but Vancouver has started off this pivotal five-game homestand with defeats. Single-point games aren’t getting you into the playoffs, simple as that. You squandered a lead to Ottawa, and there were so many opportunities to beat Aerin Frankel last Tuesday. I get it, playing hard can give you brownie points among others around the league, but brownie points don’t show up in the standings. Unless Vancouver makes a big swing ahead of the deadline, I don’t see how this group can make an honest push for the playoffs.
Ben: The Vancouver Goldeneyes are really trying. They pushed the league-leading Frost to overtime in front of a crazed Tuesday night crowd (this writer’s first Goldeneyes game), but ultimately settled for the single point — even as Kristen Campbell made 25 saves on 27 shots and Vancouver tied Boston 26-26 on the shot count through 60 minutes.
It was a similar story in their second game of the week, as they fell 3-2 to the Ottawa Charge in overtime. An extra point or two would see them in the thick of the playoff race, but it’s becoming clear that they will likely miss, despite their best efforts.
The Goldeneyes wrap up their homestand with games against the Sirens on Wednesday and the Frost on Saturday.
8. Seattle Torrent
Record: 5-1-2-11, -17
Last Week: 8th
Ben’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Tyler’s Rank: 8th
Tyler: As I said in my takeaways this week, it’s time for the Torrent to pack it in. Barring a miraculous turnaround in the final month of the season, I don’t see how this expansion team makes it to the postseason. They rarely get goals when they need them, they don’t get the goaltending necessary to challenge for the playoffs, there is just very little going right with this team. Not to mention the fact that Hannah Bilka is out for the rest of the year, and Hilary Knight’s status is still unknown.
Listen, I know we try to put a positive spin on these teams, but there’s much optimism surrounding the Torrent these days.
Ben: It’s been a tough first year for the Seattle Torrent, and this week saw them score just once across two games, with a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Frost and a 2-0 loss to the Toronto Sceptres. They’ve not even got the same level of effort that Vancouver has found at this point, and it will likely be just a few more weeks before they start playing for the first overall pick in the PWHL’s Gold Plan system.
Seattle heads to Laval for a tough matchup with the Victoire on Thursday night, before facing the Fleet on Saturday.