The PWHL has entered their first international break with players heading to the Rivalry Series and Women’s Euro Hockey Tour. 

With the Boston Fleet sitting at the top of the PWHL standings, and Ottawa Charge at the bottom, all is not as expected, but teams are beginning to find their way.

Here’s a look at The Hockey News’ PWHL Power Rankings at the league’s first break.

1. Boston Fleet

The only undefeated team in the PWHL right now, the Boston Fleet went from universally being predicted to miss the playoffs, to picking off four different teams in the opening weeks of the season, controlling play, shutting down offenses, and rewriting the script. Aerin Frankel has allowed only two goals in four games, and Boston’s top defensive pairing of Haley Winn and Megan Keller are unquestionably the best in the league right now. 

2. Montreal Victoire

Aside from their season opening loss to Boston, the Victoire have looked good, and in their most recent win over the Toronto Sceptres, you could see the full force of Montreal’s veteran lineup beginning to come together. Of course their top line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Abby Roque are playing well, but it’s many of their veteran additions like Hayley Scamurra, who are keeping the motor running. Ann-Renee Desbiens has looked sharp in net. The Victoire are contenders.

3. Vancouver Goldeneyes

Yes, they stumbled out of the gate hard following a season-opening overtime win. But growing pains aside, the Goldeneyes still have every piece to the puzzle needed, and whenever Sarah Nurse returns, they’ll get a significant boost, not to mention Nina Jobst-Smith, who has yet to make her PWHL debut. With recency in mind, Vancouver looked strong in their final outing before the international break, shutting out New York. While their big name veteran pick-ups find their way, players like Abby Boreen are keeping the Goldeneyes moving forward.

4. Minnesota Frost

The Frost have the third best goal differential in the PWHL despite abysmal special teams. Special team issues plagued the Minnesota Frost last season as well, and it’s an item they can’t keep allowing to fester as the dynamic of the league changes. This team knows what it takes to win, and it’s helped them weather the uncertainty of the new season.

5. Toronto Sceptres

Toronto is still working out the bugs this season. Right now the biggest question mark is where they’ll find secondary offense. Jesse Compher’s strong sophomore season has not picked up where it left off, although she’s still getting an abundance of chances. Natalie Spooner looks closer to her inaugural season form, which is a major boost for the Sceptres. 

6. Seattle Torrent

Like the Goldeneyes, this team is still working to gel. They have an abundance of offensive talent up front, and a solid blueline and crease, but the chemistry is still coming. One thing is true in Seattle, they took on a lot of high risk, high reward personalities. If Steven O’Rourke can get them on the same page with the help of captain Hilary Knight, this team could be scary by the new year. Danielle Serdachny has looked on the verge of breaking out, making more confident plays. All that she needs is a bounce or two and it could spell more wins for the Torrent.

7. New York Sirens

The Sirens are young and exciting, but they aren’t consistent. Kristyna Kaltounkova and Sarah Fillier look dangerous, but the Sirens might need to join their forces on a line. New York’s best unit has been Kaltounkova, Kristin O’Neill, and Paetyn Levis, but they’ve been impactful more for their two-way game than driving production. Right now New York needs an offensive spark from their blueline, and they need to find a way to get Kaltounkova and Casey O’Brien on the board more. 

8. Ottawa Charge

There’s just not a lot of redeeming points in Ottawa’s story this season. Through four games Katerina Mrazova, Emily Clark, Jocelyne Larocque, and Ronja Savolainen are among the ten skaters for the Charge who have yet to register a point. Right now far too much of Ottawa’s fortunes are resting squarely on Gwyneth Philips’ shoulders, and the Charge’s blueline isn’t helping as the Charge are regularly facing more shots than any other team averaging 32.8 shots against per game. It’s time for the Charge to shuffle their deck.