Happy Friday! Sally Hoerr from The Ice Garden here to tell you everything you need to know about PWHL playoff season.
Montréal vs. Minnesota
The Montréal Victoire enters playoffs as the No. 1 seed due to a single, third-level tie-breaker point in standings over the Boston Fleet. Talk about a tight race! In the PWHL, the No. 1 seed selects its opening round opponent. The Victoire opted to face the Minnesota Frost.
What’s makes this match thrilling? The Frost secured their first Walter Cup after being selected as an first-round opponent in the inaugural season. The Victoire also earned the No. 1 seed last season but were knocked out by their selected opponent, Ottawa.
Reid Lemker, Minnesota’s beat writer, offers thoughts on who to watch and what the team needs to do to advance:
One player I’m excited to watch: Kelly Pannek. She had a record-setting year this season and she was good for the Frost in last year’s playoffs. She’ll need to carry over her goal-scoring success from the regular season for the Frost to have success in the playoffs.
What do they need to do to advance:
Get shots on Ann-Renée Desbiens. Montreal outshot Minnesota in their regular season matchups. If Minnesota is going to score enough goals to beat Montréal, they will need to test Desbiens often in this series.
For the Victoire, Dylan Nazareth says Montréal fans should keep an eye on Nicole Gosling:
I’m excited to watch Nicole Gosling make her PWHL debut. The rookie defender showed impressive growth through the season, emerging as a legitimate threat on Montréal’s blue line both offensively and defensively.
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Boston vs. Ottawa
The battle of the runner-ups. Both teams had to watch the Frost raise the Walter Cup in the finals so they each have something to prove. Despite the Fleet commanding an 18-point overall lead, the game records between the two are 3-1 in favor of the Charge. The Fleet are ahead by one game after yesterday’s 2-1 victory.
Jessie Eldridge is on Lydia Murray’s radar for the Fleet:
Watch out for Jessie Eldridge this series. Since joining the Fleet via trade on March 16, the forward has seven goals and ten points in 11 games played, and she’s riding a six-game point streak. This will be her first trip to the playoffs after being on the first-eliminated Sirens the past two years, and she’ll want to make it count
Meanwhile Melissa Burgess wants to see if the Charge’s goaltending can take them all the way to a Walter Cup:
I’m really excited to see Gwyneth Philips in the Walter Cup Playoffs again. She’s been strong in net all season, and we’ve already seen what she can do in the postseason. She was the playoff MVP last season, and deservedly so. Can she match what she did last year and throughout this season to help give the Charge the boost they need to get all the way to a championship this time?
Schedule & how to watch
Minus Thursday’s games, the remaining first-round games are as scheduled:
- Saturday, May 2 | Minnesota vs. Montréal | 2 p.m. EST | Place Bell, Laval
- Saturday, May 2 | Ottawa vs. Boston | 7 p.m. EST | Tsongas Center, Lowell
- Tuesday, May 5 | Montréal vs. Minnesota | 7 p.m. EST | Place Bell, Laval
Here are some of the platforms to watch the games:
- Ottawa vs. Boston | NESN+ (Boston) | TSN (Canada)
- Montréal vs. Minnesota | Fox 9+ (Minnestoa) | Prime (Canada)
Click a team to see a complete list. All games are also free to stream on the PWHL YouTube channel (outside of Canada, Slovakia and Czechia).
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More women’s hockey reading
2026 PWHL Playoff Preview: Minnesota Frost
2026 PWHL Playoff Preview: Boston Fleet
2026 PWHL Playoff Preview: Ottawa Charge
2026 PWHL Playoff Preview: Montréal Victoire
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