5 Takeaways from Week 15 of the PWHL season: First-place race is getting tight, leads are for losers

We only have a few games left before the final international break of the PWHL season, and while some are getting excited about the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championship, there’s still plenty of storylines around the PWHL with just a handful of games left this season.

Teams falling out of playoff contention, then jumping back in, and teams near the top giving each other fits headline what has happened over the past week.

The PWHL – Where Leads Go to Die

The best part of this league is that anything can happen on any night, and one is truly out of a game until the final horn. That was the case for a couple of key games last week.

Six days ago, the Ottawa Charge had a glorious chance to move up into a playoff spot for the first time in months, taking on the last-place New York Sirens. Things were looking good in Canada’s capital, as the home crowd saw the Charge carry a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.

However, that was when the 18-wheeler drove off the cliff.

Powered by a solid power play, the Sirens scored thrice a little over six minutes apart to tie the game. Then, Jade-Downie Landry’s second goal of the frame put New York in front a little past the halfway mark of the third, with Sarah Fillier adding an insurance marker over a minute later, leaving many fans at TD Place aghast.

An empty-netter from Alex Carpenter capped off the incredible comeback, giving the Sirens a 6-3 win, keeping their dwindling playoff hopes alive.

Probably the wildest stat from the game was that the Charge was outshot 18-0 in the final 20 minutes…not a good sight for a team also trying to qualify for the postseason for the first time.

The next night, the Boston Fleet, on home ice as well, was in control against the Toronto Sceptres. Despite only leading 1-0 heading into the third, Boston was outshooting Toronto 23-15. Yet, just like what happened in Ottawa, the Sceptres came alive.

Daryl Watts and Hayley Scamurra scored back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to give Toronto the lead, with Renata Fast and Watts herself adding insurance to pull out a 4-2 victory, pushing the team closer to first place.

Then, on Saturday in St. Louis, the Fleet had kept the Charge at bay for most of the game, limiting Ottawa to a few scoring chances. That was until Tereza Vanisova scored twice just 36 seconds apart to put the Charge in front, leading to a dramatic 2-1 win.

If you’re a Charge or Fleet fan, you probably weren’t feeling all that great watching your team give away needed points last week (though I’m sure Ottawa fans feel a little better). For the rest of us…We love knowing that games aren’t over until they’re over.

Touring Success

Speaking of that game in St. Louis…it was the final stop of the nine-game Takeover Tour. It was a pretty good crowd at the Enterprise Center, home of the St. Louis Blues, getting the chance to see present and future Olympians in action.

It was the culmination of a successful barnstorming schedule for the league. While many on the outside viewed the tour as an experiment to see which markets would be the best fits for expansion, it was a great way to spread awareness of the PWHL from coast to coast.

The turnout for each game was impressive. With 8,578 in St. Louis on Saturday, the tour averaged 13,733 fans, including breaking the U.S. attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game – twice.

The biggest crowd on the tour, unsurprisingly, came when the Montreal Victoire beat the Sceptres in Vancouver on Jan. 8, with 19,038 jamming inside Rogers Arena. St. Louis was one of two gams to have less than 10,000 fans. Buffalo had 8,512 in attendance when the Fleet and Sirens met at KeyBank Center in February.

All in all, the Takeover Tour was a hit with fans. Even with expansion on the horizon, it wouldn’t surprise me if the PWHL has another tour next season.

Fighting for First

While some are looking at the exciting back-and-forth battle for the final playoff spot in the PWHL, the three teams near the top of the standings are starting to create some animosity in the race for the regular season championship.

The Victoire have been leading the league for the past couple of months, almost uncontested until recent weeks. Their 4-1 win over the Frost last Wednesday ended a three-game losing streak for Montreal, giving them sole possession of first after the Sceptres briefly tied the the Victoire following a 4-2 win over the Boston Fleet.

Toronto had a chance to tie Montreal again on Sunday but ended up losing to Minnesota, 5-2.

Nevertheless, with a couple of weeks left in the PWHL calendar before the postseason, three teams still have a shot at finishing first in the league. The Victoire sit first, with the Sceptres sitting three points back. While the Fleet are the furthest back – currently eight points behind Montreal – they’re still within striking distance, especially since they have to play the Victoire and Sceptres one more time before the end of the regular season.

Remember, in the PWHL, whoever finishes first in the league gets to pick who they play in the semifinals. It backfired on Toronto during the inaugural season, as they picked Minnesota, who finished fourth but ended up losing in five games.

Bad Babstock

Prior to the final Takeover Tour game of the season, the PWHL Player Safety Committee announced that Fleet forward Kelly Babstock was suspended for two games for slew-footing Sceptres forward Jesse Compher in the closing moments of their game last Wednesday.

It was a careless play by Babstock, who has been known to get a little physical throughout her career. There’s no better way to say it – slew-footing is an avoidable act. Especially at that point of the game, with seconds left in a two-goal game, it was unnecessary. Babstock was given a five-minute major and match penalty for attempt to injury on the play.

It’s the second time that Babstock has been suspended this season. Back in early January, she was banned for a game after cross-checking Minnesota Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme. I get having an energy player like Babstock in the lineup, but when she does as much harm to the team as she does good, it’ll be interesting to see if the veteran will have a role somewhere next season.

Will there be any draft points?

One of the many unique rules the PWHL has is in regard to how they format their draft, with teams earning Draft Points once they are eliminated from playoff contention to see who gets the top pick in the draft. Last year, New York won the first-overall pick. Granted, Ottawa didn’t have much of a chance, as the team was eliminated in the final day of the season.

This season, it’s looking like the battle for the final playoff spot will carry on to the end of the regular season. Even though the Sirens have been at the bottom of the league for the past few months, they have found key wins against teams like the Charge and Frost to stay alive. New York’s win over Minnesota in Detroit was a big statement, and their valiant effort against Ottawa last week proves that Greg Fargo’s team isn’t going down without a fight.

Similar to the inaugural season, the Charge and Frost are the two at the forefront of the fight for fourth. However, the inconsistency both teams have shown over the last little gives the inclination that the final postseason position won’t be decided until the very end.

As of Monday, the Frost are in fourth, two points ahead of the Charge and eight in front of the Sirens.

Now, it will be interesting to see if whoever “earns” the first overall pick will be affected by potential expansion. In the meantime, the bottom half of the league is doing whatever it can to avoid being in the No. 1 pick discussion.

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