PWHL Playoff Preview

The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) begins their second postseason this evening as the Toronto Sceptres face-off with the Minnesota Frost at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. In the other semi-final the Montréal Victoire will play the Ottawa Charge in an all-Canadian matchup starting Thursday evening at Place Bell in Montréal. Each series will be a best-of-five battle with the two winners squaring off in the finals in another five-game tilt.

Montréal finished the regular season with 53 points topping the standings, an improvement from their inaugural campaign where they finished second to Toronto. With the PWHL’s unique playoff format the Victoire where able to select their first-round opponent between the Frost and the Charge. The Victoire had won four of the six games played versus all three of the other playoff teams making the decision a bit more difficult. Ultimately after discussion throughout the franchise they decided to play the Charge who snuck into the playoffs on the last day with a 2-1 OT win against the Sceptres.

The Charge finished the season third ahead of the Frost due to a tiebreaker. What this tiebreaker was I am yet to find out as all the tiebreaker scenarios on the PWHL’s website seem to favour the Frost placing ahead of the Charge. The standings should not affect the Frost as they finished fourth last year as well before taking down the Sceptres in five games and beating the Boston Fleet in five games to take home the Walter Cup in year one of the PWHL.

Ottawa will be making their first appearance in the postseason after missing out last year and squeaking in on the final day beating out the Frost and Boston Fleet who all tied on 44 points. It could have been a throwaway season after the Charge lost starting goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer to a lower-body injury in March against the Frost. The Canadian international has yet to return to the teams’ lineup and her status for the playoffs is still murky. Back-up goalie Gwyneth Philips has filled in admirably, the rookie from Ohio finished the season with an 8-5-1 record with two shutouts and a dazzling 2.11 GAA and 0.919 SV%. Coming of a record-breaking NCAA career at Northeastern, the Charge netminder was projected to back-up Maschmeyer and get some opportunities to get eased into her first professional season. It has been an accelerated process, but Philips has steadied the ship after the major injury could have derailed the Charge’s playoff push.

Natalie Spooner and the Sceptres will look to avenge their loss last playoffs to the Frost that saw the Toronto team lose three straight games after leading scorer Spooner was injured in game three. The injury swung momentum in the series heavily to the Frost who had lost the opening two games in Toronto without getting on the scoresheet in either game. Spooner admitted that she is still recovering from the devasting knee injury that only saw her return to the Sceptres’ lineup in mid-February, nearly a year after the injury. The rematch against the Frost will be a much-anticipated matchup with top players on both sides of the ice.

Defending champions Minnesota Frost were part of the three-team tiebreaker but look to repeat last year’s success coming out of the four seed to win the Walter Cup. The Frost are led by Americans Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise and Maddie Rooney. They hold the season series versus Toronto beating them in four of the six matchups they played in the regular season. This will be a rematch of last years semi-finals after the Victoire chose to play the third placed Charge.

Predictions:

Montréal Victoire versus Ottawa Charge

The Victoire beat the Charge in four of the six matchups this season and will look to get past a sluggish ending to their campaign where they dropped five of their last eight games. On the other side of the ice the Charge are coming into the playoffs winning five of their last eight games, including a 3-2 win over the Victoire at TD Place. Montréal is led by Canadian icon and the undisputed best female player Marie-Philip Poulin. The Victoire captain along with her linemates Laura Stacey and rookie Jennifer Gardiner drive the Victoire offence with Poulin leading the league in goals with 19 and Gardiner the second leading points getter among rookies behind New York Sirens standout and first overall pick Sarah Fillier. The star-power does not end there for this Victoire team as they have the best goalie in the league with Canadian international Ann-Renée Desbiens who led the league in wins, GAA, and SV% among goalies to have played at least five games. Desbiens has played in four of the games against Ottawa putting up a 3-1 record with a 0.940 save percentage across the contests.

The Charge are led by Czech forward Tereza Vanišová who has 22 points playing in all 30 of the Charge’s regular season games. Rookie goalie Philips will look to take her stellar play into the playoffs against a Victoire team that was swept in three games last year by the Fleet. It will be an uphill battle for their inaugural playoff run, but recent results shed some optimism on their chances to pull an upset. The Charge should have some added motivation after the Victoire chose to play them over the fourth place Frost.

Did Montréal do the right thing choosing the Charge or will their decision come back to haunt them? Ultimately, the star-power of Montréal will likely overpower an Ottawa team that will rely on a rookie goaltender to play spoiler.

Montréal over Ottawa in 4 games.

Toronto Sceptres versus Minnesota Frost

Toronto will look to two key players to regain their previous form after rebounding from lengthy injuries with Sarah Nurse and Spooner both struggling to hit their stride since returning to the Sceptres’ lineup. Both players played key roles in last years first round loss to Minnesota and will have to have an impact if Troy Ryan’s team wants to play for the Walter Cup after last years collapse. Newcomer Darryl Watts leads the Sceptres in scoring, after playing for the Charge last season, finishing with 27 points in 30 games good for third in the PWHL. Forward Hannah Miller and defender Renata Fast also provided an offensive spark both registering 20-plus points on the year. The Sceptres started the season poorly for a second straight year but managed to finish the season second behind the Victoire. Starting goalie Kristen Campbell had an up-and-down year finishing with a 9-8-3-1 record with a 2.25 GAA and a 0.910 SV%. The Sceptres lost four of six matchups with the Frost in the regular season but will look to finish off the Frost this year after taking a 2-0 lead in last years first round matchup.

The defending Walter Cup champions Minnesota Frost have a solid roster with five players in the top 20 of PWHL scoring. The trio of Heise, Coyne Schofield, and Michela Cava will provide the offensive power from the forwards with defenders Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson solidifying the Frost backline and rounding out the five top point getters on the Frost. Rooney holds down the fort in net repping an 8-7-1-2 record with a stellar 2.07 GAA and an iffy 0.907 SV%. The championship mentality is there, and this team is not one to underestimate after winning the Walter Cup from the four seed last year as well.

The Sceptres overcome the demons of last seasons collapse and escape another first round upset at the hands of a very dangerous Frost team.

Toronto over Minnesota in 5 games.

Montréal Victoire vs Toronto Sceptres

A battle of Canadian internationals as Desbiens and Campbell square off in net and Poulin and Spooner battle it out on offence. The sheer dominance of Desbiens this year paired with the clutch gene of Poulin tilt the needle in the direction of the Victoire to take home the Walter Cup in year two of the PWHL.

Montréal over Toronto in 4 games.