PWHL Power Rankings: Things are getting a little Frost-y
The battle for the top spot in the PWHL is getting tighter by the day, but isn’t that what we all want?
It seemed as if the Boston Fleet and Montreal Victoire were going to be the ones duking it out for first place. However, the high-powered Minnesota Frost have been showing that championship pedigree, inserting their name into the mix, and giving up a three-way dance at the top of the standings.
Today, Hunter Crowther, Scott Maxwell and Tyler Kuehl rank the eight teams as we head into the final full week of March.
1. Minnesota Frost
Record: 11-3-3-4, +25
Last Week: 2nd (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Tyler’s Rank: 1st
Hunter: The Minnesota Frost won both their games last week by a combined score of 8-1, and now have five straight victories and wins in seven of their last eight. They are far-and-away the most dominant team in terms of expected goals and are the only team with a combined shooting percentage above 10. Now the question becomes: can they sustain this dominance through the regular season into the playoffs? Or will it fizzle out come playoff time?
Tyler: This team is pretty darn good. After a solid road win over the Goldeneyes, the two-time defending Walter Cup winners have reeled off four wins in a row. That also includes a dominant home win over the Ottawa Charge a few days earlier. Everything seems to be going right for Minnesota. The goal scoring has picked up. The goaltending has been stellar, with Maddie Rooney only allowing two goals in her past three starts. The way things are trending, the Frost certainly won’t be sneaking into the playoffs this year.
I do wonder if they should even bother adding anything before the trade deadline next week. This team is pretty solid and is clicking at the right time.
Minnesota is back home on Wednesday night when its hosts a marquee matchup against the Montreal Victoire.
2. Boston Fleet
Record: 10-5-2-4, +15
Last Week: 2nd
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Tyler’s Rank: 2nd
Hunter: The Boston Fleet started the week with a 2-0 loss to a desperate Toronto Sceptres squad, but followed it with a bounceback performance in a 3-0 win over the Seattle Torrent, a game that saw the Fleet outshoot the U.S. expansion club 33-21.In another season, Haley Winn would be a favorite for rookie of the year, as the 22-year-old defender leads all PWHL skaters in average ice time with 27:58 and is tied for third in points among rookies with 12.
Tyler: I was conflicted on whether I should keep Boston at the top of poll. Yes, getting shut out at Agganis and losing on home ice for the first time this year last Tuesday against Toronto wasn’t ideal, but they responded with a convincing effort against the Torrent this past weekend. This team is certainly on its way to a playoff spot, and potentially home ice in the semifinals.
That said, I think Boston needs another piece to become a true championship contender. GM Danielle Marmer did add some offense by getting Jessie Eldridge from Seattle, but if the Fleet have to go up against a team like Minnesota in the postseason, they might be a little outmatched.
The Fleet are back in Lowell on Tuesday, taking on the Goldeneyes.
3. Montreal Victoire
Record: 10-4-2-5, +21
Last Week: 1st (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Tyler’s Rank: 3rd
Hunter: We caught a brief glimpse of Marie-Philip Poulin this week, who scored a goal then suffered a lower-body injury in the Montreal Victoire’s win against the Torrent. The injury kept Poulin out of the team’s Takeover Tour contest against the Ottawa Charge in Winnipeg, which they lost 2-1 in overtime. We could see a potential Walter Cup Final matchup next week as the Victoire travel to Minnesota to take on the Frost.
Tyler: I’m in a strange spot with the Victoire. Sure, they beat Seattle last week (but then again, everyone should be beating the Torrent), but dropping a marquee matchup in Winnipeg to the Charge on Sunday night left a sour taste in my mouth. That’s back-to-back weekends where the Victoire have lost headline games in extra time. During the regular season, that gives you a point. In the playoffs, as this team knows All Too Well (Victoire’s Version), those just count as losses.
The absence of Poulin is hovering over this team like a dark cloud. While they can get away without having Captain Clutch in the lineup against teams like Vancouver and Seattle, Montreal needs that intangible to truly contend with the upper echelon of the PWHL.
Speaking of which, the Victoire face the Frost in St. Paul on Wednesday before heading to Detroit for a Takeover Tour game against the New York Sirens.
4. Toronto Sceptres
Record: 8-1-5-8, -8
Last Week: 6th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Tyler’s Rank: 4th
Hunter: With just one game last week, the Sceptres defeated the Fleet thanks to Daryl Watts breaking a 0-0 tie midway through the third period. Toronto now has points in six straight games and enter the week one point ahead of the Charge for fourth place in the PWHL standings. Speaking of Watts, after recording just one goal in her previous eight games, the 27-year-old forward scored in back-to-back games and leads the team with eight.
Tyler: I know her numbers aren’t among the league’s best, but Raygan Kirk is quietly placing her name in the Goaltender of the Year conversation. She might not win, but her efforts since the Olympic break is the main reason Toronto is sitting in fourth place at the start of the week. Back-to-back shutouts for the former Buckeye, including a 26-save outing against the Fleet last Tuesday, have given the team a chance to avoid missing the playoffs.
However, as Boston has learned over their first two-plus years of existence, you cannot rely on your goaltender to win you every game. Daryl Watts has been good, and captain Blayre Turnbull has contributed, but this is a bottom-four offense that needs to be bolstered if the Sceptres want to play in May.
The Sceptres are off until Friday, when they begin an important weekend on home ice, hosting the Fleet on Friday before the Goldeneyes come to town on Sunday.
5. Ottawa Charge
Record: 5-7-1-9, -8
Last Week: 4th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Tyler’s Rank: 5th
Hunter: The Charge gave up four goals in the first period in a loss to the Frost last week, but they responded with a strong effort in an overtime win over the Victoire inside Winnipeg’s Canada Life Centre. Rebecca Leslie scored the OT-winner against Montreal, giving her 12 goals on the season and three game-winning goals in OT. Both her and Brianne Jenner are tied for the team lead with 19 points.
Tyler: The Charge played an excellent game on Sunday against the Victoire, a game it felt like they had to win after being smashed by the Frost last week. As we’ve grown accustomed to in this league’s brief history, Ottawa never gives up and certainly won’t back down from a challenge. While everyone’s looking up at the battle for first place, there are three teams fighting for fourth place, which just seems to be how Carla MacLeod’s team likes it.
We’ve seen Ottawa be active around the trade deadline in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if GM Mike Hirshfeld works the phones hard this week to give the Charge a piece or two on the back end to support Gwyneth Philips.
The Charge don’t play until Sunday when they visit the Torrent.
6. New York Sirens
Record: 8-0-3-10, -8
Last Week: 5th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Tyler’s Rank: 6th
Tyler: Well…isn’t this a familiar sight? PWHL hockey in March, and the Sirens are in sixth place.
They went up against a struggling Vancouver team last Wednesday, stumbled out of the gate and weren’t able to recover. Just like we’ve seen in the first two years of the PWHL, New York looks to be out of sorts at the worst time of year. The team has dropped back-to-back games and has lost seven of its past eight. Goaltender Kayle Osborne hasn’t been playing at the level that she was at prior to the Olympics, and, unlike other organizations, head coach Greg Fargo doesn’t have anyone else to turn to.
I still believe the Sirens have the talent to get to the playoffs, but the way they’ve been playing as of late, a good draft position might be in their future once again.
Hunter: The New York Sirens have hit a wall with eight losses in their last nine games, highlighted by a 5-2 defeat to the Vancouver Goldeneyes last week. Kristyna Kaltounkova has hit a wall of her own, with no goals in five games since the Olympic break. At least fellow rookie Casey O’Brien has found some offense, with five goals and eight assists for 13 points in her last 13 games.
The Sirens are on the road for two Takeover Tour games this week, facing the Torrent in Chicago on Wednesday before heading back to Detroit on Saturday to face the Victoire.
7. Vancouver Goldeneyes
Record: 6-1-4-10, -10
Last Week: 7th
Hunter’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Tyler’s Rank: 7th
Tyler: I don’t care if the Goldeneyes picked up points in three games during this recent homestand, winning just once at the Coliseum over the past several weeks is enough to make me believe this expansion doesn’t have what it takes to make the playoffs…and I picked them to finish in FIRST PLACE.
Vancouver truly wasted its best chance to get back into the playoff race. They had a favorable home crowd behind them and, overall, a series of fairly beatable opponents, on paper. Yet, whether it be goaltending or an inefficient offense, this team just isn’t good enough to get the job done.
Hunter: The Goldeneyes earned a win over the Sirens at home then gave the first-place Frost a healthy effort in a 3-1 loss over the weekend. Vancouver is interesting because you can tell the pieces are there, but more than two-thirds into the season, they still haven’t put those pieces together. They have pieces teams may be interested in ahead of next week’s Trade Deadline.
The Goldeneyes now begin a three-game road trip on Tuesday against the Fleet, before visiting the Sceptres next Sunday.
8. Seattle Torrent
Record: 5-1-2-13, -23
Last Week: 8th
Hunter’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Tyler’s Rank: 8th
Tyler: How is it, with the favorable expansion rules that were presented before them, that the Torrent are on their way to finishing with the most regulation losses in PWHL history, and possibly the most losses in general? Yes, the injuries in the second half certainly haven’t helped Seattle’s cause by any stretch. However, this team, somehow, has the shallowest lineup in the league, with no signs of things changing before the end of the year.
The best thing Seattle could do is continue to build on this four-game losing skid, and start racking up Gold Plan points sooner than the rest in order to have the first-overall pick in this year’s draft.
Hunter: With four straight losses and defeats in eight of their last nine games — all in regulation — it’s safe to assume the Seattle Torrent won’t be in the playoffs. The real question now becomes: When will they be mathematically eliminated and compete for Gold Plan points so they can draft Patty Kazmaier Award winner and National Champion Caroline Harvey?
Seattle heads to Chicago on Wednesday for a Takeover Tour game against the Sirens.