Fourth place is on the line as Ottawa and Boston battle in pursuit of playoffs
OTTAWA, ON (April 24, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season continues with a pair of Wednesday night games, including Ottawa against Boston, at 7:00 p.m. ET at The Arena at TD Place.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans across Canada can watch the game live on TSN 3/5 channels, TSN.ca, and the TSN app. Fans in the United States can watch live on NESN 360, Sportsnet Pittsburgh Plus, and streamed on the league’s YouTube channel. Daniella Ponticelli will have the play-by-play alongside analyst Cheryl Pounder.
TONIGHT’S PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
While neither team can clinch a playoff spot tonight, one point or more for Ottawa would give them the potential to clinch a playoff spot as early as Saturday and subsequently put Boston at risk of playoff elimination. Montréal can clinch with a win in regulation against New York, or if Ottawa beats Boston in regulation. Montréal can also clinch with an overtime/shootout win if Boston does not beat Ottawa in regulation, or with an overtime/shootout loss combined with a Boston loss of any kind. Even though Minnesota does not play tonight, they can clinch a playoff berth if Boston loses to Ottawa in regulation. In order to stay alive in the playoff race, New York needs a win over Montréal in regulation combined with a Boston win over Ottawa.
CELEBRATING PRIDE
Ottawa’s penultimate home game of the regular season will celebrate Pride in Canada’s capital. The evening will kick off around 4:30 p.m. ET with a tailgate party on the TD Place football field. The music will be mixed by DJ Grace, a well-known artist in Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQ+ community. Two sports clubs featuring athletes from the community – Ottawa Pride Hockey and Ottawa Wolves Rugby Football Club – will also be on hand to get fans moving. Several organizations will set up booths on the arena concourse to connect with fans throughout the evening. Members of Ottawa Pride Hockey will take part in a special breakaway contest during the first intermission. Limited-edition Pride hoodies will be on sale at the team boutique.
SETTING THE STAGE
Fourth place in the overall standings is on the line in tonight’s game that features the league’s two hottest teams. Ottawa (8-0-6-6) enters the action in fourth with 30 points and a season-high three game winning streak, with Boston (6-4-2-9) just two behind in fifth place with 28 points on the heels of back-to-back victories. Ottawa extended their streak to three with a 4-0 shutout victory over Minnesota on Saturday in their first game back from the break. Their best stretch of the season also includes a 3-0 shutout against New York at Total Mortgage Arena on Mar. 20, and a 5-3 win against Toronto at home on Mar. 23. They are also riding a six-game point streak collecting 14 of a possible 18 points dating back to Mar. 5. Boston has posted two straight regulation wins for the first time since Feb. 21/25 with a pair of 2-1 victories since the break, defeating Toronto at home last Thursday and beating New York on Saturday at Prudential Center. Boston’s latest victory snapped a five-game losing streak as the road team, not counting their 2-1 shootout triumph over Ottawa at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Mar. 16 the last time the two teams played. In 10 official road games, Boston has accumulated five wins and 14 points. Ottawa is the league’s fourth best on home ice with four wins and 15 points in 10 games at The Arena at TD Place. Ottawa will have one more home game on Saturday against Montréal, the same day Boston will play its final road game in Minnesota. Ottawa will look to take advantage of their high-powered offense that ranks first and has averaged four goals-per-game during their win streak. Boston has won by minimizing their opposition’s goals and have scored three times just once in their last 10 games.
THE SEASON SERIES THROUGH FOUR GAMES
Boston leads the season series against Ottawa with three wins and an 8-4 advantage in points through four games. The first three games were decided in regulation, including a 3-2 Boston win at TD Place on Jan. 24, followed by a 4-2 Ottawa win on Feb. 19 and a 3-1 Boston win on Feb. 21 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. Their last encounter was at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Mar. 16 where Boston emerged with a 2-1 shootout victory. Captain Hilary Knight scored the game’s first goal and added the shootout winner before a crowd of 13,736 that stands as the largest attendance for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States. Emily Clark scored Ottawa’s lone goal on the powerplay and has three points in the series. Boston defender Megan Keller leads the season series with five assists and has produced in all four games. Boston’s Aerin Frankel has started all four games and has a .945 save percentage head-to-head. Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer has appeared in all four games with three starts and has a .930 SV% in those games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner has climbed into fourth in PWHL scoring with 18 points, including eight goals and 10 assists in 20 games. The league’s Second Star of the Week scored for the third straight game with a hat trick on Saturday against Minnesota and has three straight multi-point performances and 12 points in her last six games. Ottawa will welcome back Kateřina Mrázová (6G 11A) to action after the Czechia native missed the entire Women’s World Championship and Saturday’s game due to injury. She is second on the team with 17 points, including 14 points in her last nine games. Daryl Watts (8G 6A) is third on the team with 14 points, followed by Emily Clark (4G 9A) with 13 points. Watts has an active three-game point streak and Clark a five-game streak. Tereza Vanišová (2G 10A) is fifth in Ottawa scoring with 12 points and recorded her first two assists in her third game with the team on Saturday. Alina Müller (3G 11A) leads Boston’s offense with 14 points, followed by Megan Keller (3G 10A) who is tied for second in scoring among defenders with 13 points. Lexie Adzija (6G 5A) has 11 points and is fresh off her first multi-point performance of the year and first goal for Boston in Saturday’s win. Susanna Tapani (4G 6A) has 10 points and recorded her first multi-point game as a member of Boston in Thursday’s win. Jamie Lee Rattray (2G 8A) also has 10 points and will undoubtedly be energized playing in front of her hometown crowd where she scored her first goal of the season back on Jan. 24.
FAMILIAR FACES
Tonight’s game will be the first for Boston forward Lexie Adzija back in Ottawa where she launched her professional career. The 23-year-old was selected by Ottawa in the 11th round of the PWHL Draft and played in 17 games for the team, recording five goals and three assists. She was part of a trade at the deadline on Mar. 18, going to Boston in exchange for forward Shiann Darkangelo and forward Caitrin Lonergan. Darkangelo was selected by Boston in the 12th round of the draft and recorded one assist in 17 games with the team. Ottawa also has a trio of players in the lineup tonight who began the season as Reserve Players for Boston, including Emma Buckles, Sammy Davis, and Samantha Isbell. Ottawa will acknowledge Adzija in-venue with a video during the second media break of the first period.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“We talked about it (facing former teammates) and we’re excited. They were our teammates before. They are our friends. Off the ice, we’re friends. On the ice, we both want to win. We definitely have a point to prove. We want to go out there and compete as hard as we can and hopefully get that win.” – Sammy Davis, Ottawa
“We try to always do what we do and focus on us. We want to make sure that we are in the right spot. Every opponent… Every game is a big game! This one, it’s truly not bigger than the rest. They’re all big. And they have been since the start of the season. Maybe for us, it’s important to stick to our routine and to our rhythm. But we recognize that it’s going to be a hard-fought game.” – Carla MacLeod, Ottawa
“For us as players, we just want to keep playing. This is the reason why we’ve trained all year. Tonight is Ottawa, but it’s one game at a time.” – Jamie Lee Rattray, Boston
“We have to play a full 60 minutes tonight. It’s our goal to really commit to our small details and bury goals.” – Courtney Kessel, Boston
QUICK HITS
Ottawa (+4) is third in goal differential and Boston (-8) ranks fifth…Ottawa (2.70) is first in goals-per-game average and Boston (2.00) is tied for fifth…Boston (2.38) allows the third fewest goals-per-game and Ottawa (2.50) allows the second most on average…Ottawa has scored first in 11 of its games and won seven of them, Boston has scored first in nine games and won eight…Both teams are most dangerous offensively in the third period with Ottawa scoring a league-high 22 times and Boston scoring 15 goals…Boston has won eight of its 13 one-goal games and Ottawa has lost all nine of their one-goal decisions…Ottawa (+31) is third in shot differential and Boston (+19) ranks fourth…Ottawa (29.35) is first in shorts-per-game average and Boston (28.48) ranks third…Boston (27.48) allows the third fewest shots-per-game and Ottawa (27.90) allows the third most on average…Ottawa has outshot its opponents 13 times and Boston eight times…Ottawa (6.45) averages the fourth most penalty minutes per game and Boston (5.71) averages the second least…Ottawa (15/57) is first in powerplay efficiency at 26.3%…Boston (3/47) ranks sixth on the PP at 6.4%…Ottawa (46/54) is third in penalty kill efficiency at 85.2%…Boston (46/56) ranks fifth on the PK at 82.1%…Brianne Jenner (OTT) is fourth in league scoring with 18 points…Megan Keller (BOS) is tied for second in scoring among defenders with 13 points…Kateřina Mrázová (OTT) and Hayley Scamurra (OTT) share a tie for second in the league with three powerplay goals…Gabbie Hughes (OTT) and Susanna Tapani (BOS) share a tie for second in the league with three game winning goals…Taylor Girard (BOS) is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded points…Tereza Vanišová (OTT) leads the league with 35 penalty minutes…Tapani leads the league with a plus-14 rating…Scamurra leads Ottawa with 69 shots on goal…Hilary Knight leads Boston with 71 shots…Brianne Jenner (111/204) leads Ottawa with a face-off percentage of 54.4%…Hughes (44.5%) leads the team with 339 draws… Hannah Brandt (199/363) leads Boston in face-offs and with a win-rate of 54.8%…Emerance Maschmeyer (OTT) has won eight of her 18 starts with two shutouts and a goals-against-average of 2.20 and save percentage of .918…Aerin Frankel (BOS) has won seven of her 15 starts with one shutout and a 1.94 GAA that ranks second and a .931 SV% that ranks third…Sammy Davis (OTT) celebrated her 27th birthday on Tuesday…Boston’s forward lines and defensive pairings are the same as in Saturday’s game.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
OTTAWA:
Clark | Hughes | Scamurra
Watts | Mrázová | Jenner
Gilmore | Snodgrass | Vanišová
Demers | Darkangelo | Shiga
Davis
Tejralová | Harmon
Roese | Bell
Isbell | Buckles
Maschmeyer | Abstreiter
Scratches: Boyd, Della Rovere, Gasparics, McQuigge, Schneider
BOSTON:
Müller | Tapani | Girard
Rattray | Brandt | Knight
Kosta | Adzija | Shirley
Wenczkowski | Marvin | Pelkey
Babstock
Keller | Brown
DiGirolamo | Fratkin
Healey | Morin
Frankel | Söderberg
Scratches: Cook, Gabel, Kronish, Schafzahl
OFFICIALS:
Referees: Hillary Brennan (London, ON) and Chad Ingalls (Woodstock, ON).
Linespersons: Ali Beres (Brant, ON) and Antoine Bujold-Roux (Ottawa, ON; Albany, NY).
Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus team accounts @pwhl_ottawa and @pwhl_boston.