Record-setting crowd at Madison Square Garden caps highest weekly average in PWHL history and brings 2025-26 attendance over 900,000 fans<\/p>\n
New York\u2019s Sarah Fillier named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja<\/p>\n
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (April 6, 2026) \u2013 The Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League (PWHL) set a new U.S. arena attendance record for a women\u2019s hockey game for the fourth time this season with a sold-out crowd of 18,006 fans at Madison Square Garden, the league\u2019s first-ever game played at the iconic venue. The crowd was part of a six-game week on the PWHL schedule that drew 73,103 fans, an average of 12,183 per game, for the highest weekly attendance average in league history. The Montr\u00e9al Victoire and Minnesota Frost became the second and third teams to clinch a berth in the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, with this week\u2019s action highlighted by the final game of the PWHL Takeover Tour\u2122 in Edmonton and the league\u2019s first-ever game at Boston\u2019s TD Garden.<\/p>\n
THREE CROWDS CRACK TOP SEVEN OF SEASON<\/p>\n
Saturday night\u2019s crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden to see the New York Sirens and Seattle Torrent is the second highest single game attendance of the PWHL season, and one of three games last week inside the seven highest attended games in 2025-26. On Friday, Ottawa set a new team record for home attendance with a crowd of 17,114 at Canadian Tire Centre when they took on Montr\u00e9al, which ranks sixth overall this season and surpasses their previous home game high of 11,065, set when the Charge hosted the Victoire for the first time at the venue on Dec. 6, 2024. Wednesday\u2019s game at Calgary\u2019s Scotiabank Saddledome between the Charge and Toronto Sceptres drew 16,150 fans, the seventh highest crowd of the season and second highest through 15 of 16 games in the Takeover Tour. PWHL attendance is climbing closer to 1 million fans for the 2025-26 regular season, with a total of 913,809 through 99 games, an average of 9,230 fans per game.<\/p>\n
MANHATTAN MEMORIES<\/p>\n
Madison Square Garden can add a Sirens shootout win to its long list of memorable moments over nearly six decades as The World\u2019s Most Famous Arena. New York picked up two points with a 2-1 triumph over Seattle in Saturday\u2019s game, presented by e.lf. Cosmetics. Sirens rookie Casey O\u2019Brien, born in lower Manhattan and a lifelong New York Rangers fan, received a thunderous ovation<\/a> when introduced in the starting lineup. The crowd continued to roar when top WNBA prospect and rapper Flau’jae Johnson delivered the puck<\/a> to Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, the PWHL\u2019s founding Advisory Board members, trailblazers and long-time women\u2019s sports advocates, who performed the ceremonial faceoff. Soccer legend Kelley O\u2019Hara, boxer Amanda Serrano, actor and singer Skylar Astin, and top PWHL prospect Caroline Harvey were also among the star-studded guests<\/a>. The win was New York\u2019s second straight beyond regulation when trailing after two periods. Click here<\/a> to see all PWHL results.<\/p>\n TAKEOVER TOUR ENDING IN EDMONTON<\/p>\n On Tuesday night, the DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour\u2122 concludes at Edmonton\u2019s Rogers Place where the Vancouver Goldeneyes will take on the Boston Fleet. It\u2019s the PWHL\u2019s third visit to the City of Champions and second trip this season after the Goldeneyes lost to the Frost 2-1 in overtime back on Dec. 27. The last two of 16 stops on this season\u2019s Takeover Tour are in the province of Alberta, following Toronto\u2019s 2-1 win over Ottawa in Calgary last Wednesday. Women\u2019s hockey history in the Stampede City was celebrated during walk-ins with Clarkson Cup champions Blayre Turnbull of the Sceptres and Brianne Jenner and Rebecca Leslie of the Charge wearing their old Calgary Inferno jerseys<\/a>. It was also a homecoming for Sceptres defender Jessica Kondas of Calgary and Charge rookie Sarah Wozniewicz of nearby Cochrane, both showcasing Flames jerseys upon arrival to Scotiabank Saddledome. Fans in Calgary watched Charge and Sceptres practices and got autographs prior to the game, with fans in Edmonton having the same opportunity with the Fleet and Goldeneyes today. Click here<\/a> for more about the PWHL Takeover Tour\u2122.<\/p>\n BOSTON\u2019S TD GARDEN DEBUT<\/p>\n The Fleet will hit the ice for the first time at a sold-out TD Garden on Saturday night against the Victoire, the perfect stage for a highly anticipated matchup between the league\u2019s top two teams. The game, presented by Bentley University, will be the last regular season contest in 2025-26 to be played in a non-primary PWHL home venue as TD Garden will become the 35th venue to host a PWHL game all-time, including one of 21 venues with a current NHL team. The Fleet had the opportunity to experience the energy at TD Garden last Tuesday as guests for the Boston Bruins Women in Sports Celebration and received a standing ovation when introduced on the videoboard<\/a>. Captain Megan Keller joined the NESN team in the broadcast booth<\/a> in-game, goaltender Aerin Frankel and alternate captain Alina M\u00fcller were pregame panelists<\/a>, and rookie defender Haley Winn was also interviewed<\/a>.<\/p>\n FANTASTIC FILLIER<\/p>\n New York\u2019s Sarah Fillier scored four goals on eight shots in two games last week, both Sirens wins, and has been named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja. The Sirens alternate captain scored her first career hat trick on Wednesday to lead New York to a 4-3 overtime win against Minnesota, then scored the game-tying goal in regulation and added her first career shootout goal in Saturday\u2019s 2-1 win over Seattle. With her hat trick, the 25-year-old from Georgetown, ON, set a PWHL record for the fastest two goals by the same player, tallying twice in 14 seconds. Of the 17 hat tricks in PWHL history, including four this season, hers was the first to include an overtime winning goal. Fillier has eight goals in her last seven contests and is the fifth player to record 20 points this season (9G, 11A) across 24 games. One shy of 50 career points (22G, 27A), she is also just the third player in history to record 20 points in each of her first two PWHL seasons, joining Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Marie-Philip Poulin and Seattle\u2019s Alex Carpenter who achieved the feat with New York. Click here<\/a> to see all-time PWHL leaders.<\/p>\n MONTR\u00c9AL AND MINNESOTA PUNCH PLAYOFF TICKETS<\/p>\n Montr\u00e9al and Minnesota have clinched berths in the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. Both teams punched their tickets faster than in previous years, with the Victoire securing their spot with six games remaining after doing so with four games left in their 2024-25 season and with two games left in the inaugural season. The Frost, with five games remaining in their schedule, previously clinched on the final day of both the 2024-25 campaign and inaugural season before winning the Walter Cup both times. Along with Boston, three playoff spots have been claimed but all five other teams remain in contention for the fourth and final spot. While each of Toronto, Ottawa and New York can individually surpass Minnesota\u2019s current point total, it is impossible for more than one to do so based on remaining head-to-head games in their schedules. Click here<\/a> for the playoff tiebreaker procedure.<\/p>\n VICTOIRE BACK ON TOP WITH RECORD POINT STREAK<\/p>\n Montr\u00e9al (14-4-2-5) is back in first place in the PWHL standings with a team record 14 regulation wins and 52 points in 25 games, one shy of their 2024-25 record of 53 points in 30 games and have ascended the standings on the strength of a PWHL record 13-game point streak. Last week the Victoire became the first team in PWHL history to win their 50th regular season game all-time. Boston (13-5-2-4) is in second place with 51 points and six games remaining and carry a four-game winning streak into their return to action this week. Minnesota (12-3-4-6) is in third place with a team record 46 points in 25 games, surpassing the 44 points they posted in 30 games last season. Toronto (9-1-5-10) holds fourth place with 34 points, one ahead of Ottawa (6-7-1-11) with 33 points, both with five games remaining, including two head-to-head. New York (8-2-3-12) earned four of a possible six points last week to climb up to 31 points and sit sixth. Vancouver (7-1-4-13) is in seventh place with 27 points after a pair of losses last week, followed by Seattle (6-1-3-14) in eighth place with 23 points and six games remaining. Click here<\/a> to see the full PWHL standings.<\/p>\n SEATTLE FACING ELIMINATION<\/p>\n Seattle is on the brink of becoming the league\u2019s first team to be eliminated from playoff contention. In order to stay alive in the playoff race, the Torrent will need to earn a combined point total in their next two games (at Montr\u00e9al and at Ottawa) that is two or more points higher than the Charge earn in their head-to-head game on Wednesday.<\/p>\n PANNEK\u2019S FOUR-POINT PERFORMANCE TAKES OVER SCORING LEAD<\/p>\n Minnesota alternate captain Kelly Pannek tied a PWHL single-game record with four points on Saturday, scoring two goals and two assists in the Frost\u2019s 6-5 win over the Goldeneyes, with the 11 combined goals representing the most in a game this season and tied for the PWHL record. Pannek leads the league with 14 goals, including seven on the power play, which ties Natalie Spooner (Toronto, 2024) for most goals scored with the player advantage in a season. Pannek\u2019s 28 points in 25 games is also one shy of the PWHL single-season points record of 29 set by Fillier and Hilary Knight last season. Frost forward Taylor Heise is second in league scoring with 26 points in 25 games, including 16 assists which ties the single-season record set by Fillier and Toronto\u2019s Renata Fast in 30 games last season. Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme (9G, 15A) ranks third with 24 points, followed by Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield (10G, 10A) with 20 points in just 18 games, and Fillier (9G, 11A). O\u2019Brien (6G, 13A) is the only rookie among the six skaters with 19 points this season and is riding a five-game point streak, the longest active streak heading into this week\u2019s games. Click here<\/a> for PWHL leaders.<\/p>\n FIRST CAREER SHUTOUT FOR ABSTREITER<\/p>\n Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Sandra Abstreiter turned aside all 39 shots faced on Friday to backstop the Victoire to a 3-0 win over the Charge, the team\u2019s second straight shutout and second win over Ottawa in as many games at Canadian Tire Centre all-time. Her 39 saves are the most among any of the league\u2019s 24 shutouts this season and second-most ever in a PWHL shutout, behind Frankel\u2019s 41 against Minnesota on Feb. 25, 2024. Abstreiter, the winningest goaltender in German Olympic women\u2019s hockey history, has three wins in four starts this season and has made seven career appearances between the pipes. She even picked up an assist on Friday against her former team, just the seventh ever recorded by a PWHL goaltender. The shutout followed an 18-save performance by teammate Ann-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens on Wednesday against Vancouver, her sixth of the season. The Canadian goalkeeper has 15 wins with a league-low goals-against average of 1.14 and a .954 save percentage that is tied with Frankel, who leads the league with 16 wins and seven shutouts. Click here<\/a> to see this season\u2019s goaltending leaders.<\/p>\n FIRST CAREER WIN FOR SHANAHAN<\/p>\n New York rookie Callie Shanahan earned her first career win last Wednesday with a 22-save performance in a 4-3 overtime win over Minnesota. It was just the second career start and third appearance by the Sirens fourth-round pick from Boston University who becomes the league\u2019s fourth rookie goaltender to pick up a win this season. Of the nine rookie goaltenders to win a PWHL game all-time, she is the first to do so in an overtime decision (excluding shootouts). New York is the only PWHL team with a win from a rookie in each of the league\u2019s three seasons.<\/p>\n FIRST CAREER GOALS FOR WILLOUGHBY<\/p>\n It was worth the wait for Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Kaitlin Willoughby whose hard work over three PWHL seasons was rewarded on the scoresheet Friday with her first and second career goals, including the winning tally in the Victoire\u2019s triumph over the Charge. The 31-year-old from Prince Albert, SK, scored in her 75th career game and on two of her 37 career shots on goal. There have been 124 different goal scorers across the PWHL this season, including 26 rookies. <\/p>\n BOISSONNAULT NAMED INTACT IMPACT AWARD RECIPIENT<\/p>\n Frost goaltender Marl\u00e8ne Boissonnault is the Intact Impact Award recipient for the month of February, recognizing her commitment to mentorship, dedication to community impact, and the positive energy she brings both on and off the ice. Through the PWHL\u2019s partnership with Intact Insurance, a $5,000 donation will be made on her behalf to the Hockey 4 Youth Foundation<\/a>, whose mission is to increase social inclusion for new Canadian and high-priority youth with programming that includes free ice hockey.<\/p>\n SENDING STRENGTH TO COACH MACLEOD<\/p>\n Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod will be stepping away from the team for an undetermined period as she continues her breast cancer treatment, the team announced Monday<\/a>. She remains in good spirits and is focused on her health and recovery. During this time, Haley Irwin will assume the role of Interim Head Coach, effective immediately.<\/p>\n CONGRATULATIONS COACH SPARRE<\/p>\n Fleet Head Coach Kris Sparre and wife Steph welcomed the birth of their daughter<\/a>, Quinn Callie Sparre, born Saturday. Sparre is currently with his family in Toronto and will miss Tuesday\u2019s game in Edmonton, with Fleet assistant coach Stefanie McKeough serving as Interim Head Coach until his return.<\/p>\n THROWING STRIKES<\/p>\n Baseball season is back and PWHL players have helped launch the festivities in stadiums across the United States. On Friday, Frankel, a New York native, threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium<\/a> before the team\u2019s home opener against Miami, while Minnesota\u2019s U.S. Olympic gold medalists were recognized ahead of the Twins home opener<\/a> against Tampa Bay. Last week, Seattle\u2019s Olympians were honored and Knight threw out the first pitch before the Mariners played Cleveland<\/a>.<\/p>\n THIS WEEK\u2019S SCHEDULE<\/p>\n The 100th game of the PWHL season will be the first of a Tuesday night doubleheader when Montr\u00e9al hosts Seattle at 7 p.m. ET at Place Bell where the first 6,000 fans will receive a Laura Stacey Bobblehead, while quantities last. The action continues in the DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour\u2122 at Edmonton\u2019s Rogers Place at 9:30 p.m. ET between Vancouver and Boston. On Wednesday night, Ottawa returns to TD Place to host Seattle at 7 p.m. ET and the first 6,000 fans will receive a Barbie\u2122 x Charge Belt Bag, while quantities last. Then, it\u2019s a busy Saturday with three games, including Minnesota against New York at Grand Casino Arena at 1 p.m. ET for the Frost\u2019s Pride Celebration Unity Game presented by e.l.f. Cosmetics. At 2 p.m. ET, Toronto hosts Ottawa at Coca-Cola Coliseum where the first 6,000 fans will receive a Barbie\u2122 x Sceptres Belt Bag, while quantities last. Boston makes its TD Garden debut at 7 p.m. ET against Montr\u00e9al. Full broadcast details are below and available online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tuesday, April 7 \u2013 7 PM ET Canada: Prime VideoU.S. (In-Market): FOX 13+U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports<\/p>\n Tuesday, April 7 \u2013 9:30 PM ET \u2013 PWHL Takeover Tour Canada: Prime VideoU.S. (In-Market): NESN 360U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports<\/p>\n Wednesday, April 8 \u2013 7 PM ET Canada: TSNU.S. (In-Market): FOX 13+U.S. (Out of Market): Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network, KCRG-TV 9\/Ottumwa\u2013Kirksville CW (Iowa), Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), North Star Sports & Entertainment Network, Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, Scripps Sports, South Texas Sports, Tennessee Valley Sports Network<\/p>\n Saturday, April 11 \u2013 1 PM ET Canada: Sportsnet 360U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North, FOX 9+, MSG, My9U.S. (Out of Market): FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, Scripps Sports<\/p>\n Saturday, April 11 \u2013 2 PM ET Canada: CBC and CBC GemU.S. (Out of Market): FOX 10 Xtra Phoenix, FOX 11+ Los Angeles<\/p>\n Saturday, April 11 \u2013 7 PM ET Canada: TSN and RDS2U.S. (In-Market): NESN, NESN+, TV 38<\/p>\n
Seattle Torrent at Montr\u00e9al Victoire (Place Bell)<\/p>\n
Boston Fleet vs. Vancouver Goldeneyes (Rogers Place \u2013 Edmonton, AB)<\/p>\n
Seattle Torrent at Ottawa Charge (TD Place)<\/p>\n
New York Sirens at Minnesota Frost (Grand Casino Arena)<\/p>\n
Ottawa Charge at Toronto Sceptres (Coca-Cola Coliseum)<\/p>\n
Montr\u00e9al Victoire at Boston Fleet (TD Garden)<\/p>\n