P-Dub By The Numbers: Game 27 through Game 55

Another month-and-a-half of league play has come and gone, and the standings have started to solidify. With 17 games remaining before playoffs, is Toronto the team to beat down the stretch, or will Montréal or Minnesota be able to catch up?

The score sheet

• Three skaters notched hat tricks:
  • Toronto's Natalie Spooner vs. Boston on Feb. 14.
  • Montréal's Claire Dalton vs. Ottawa on Feb. 24.
  • Ottawa's Daryl Watts vs. Toronto on March 23.
• Five goalies shut out their opponents:
  • Toronto's Kristen Campbell vs. Montréal on Feb. 16.
    • ...and again vs. Montréal on March 8.
  • Boston's Aerin Frankel vs. Minnesota on Feb. 25.
  • Minnesota's Maddie Rooney vs. New York on March 3.
  • Minnesota's Nicole Hensley vs. Boston on March 13.
  • Ottawa's Emerance Maschmeyer vs. New York on March 20.
• One team scored six goals, Montréal:
  • Montréal 6, Ottawa 3 on Feb. 24, the highest scoring game of the season.
• A new attendance record for women's hockey was set on Feb. 16, when 19,285 fans watched the "Battle on Bay Street" between Toronto and Montréal at Scotiabank Arena.
  • On March 16, Ottawa and Boston set an American attendance record with a crowd of 13,736 at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit.

Toronto's historic 10-game win streak – the longest in league history – ended Saturday with a 5-3 loss to Ottawa, but it still rocketed the team from the middle of the pack to the top of the table.

Toronto has the best home record of any team, going 6-1-0-3 in 10 games for a 0.667 win percentage, as well as the best away record (4-2-0-3 in 9 games, 0.593). No team has as many shootout wins (2-0) or shutouts (3), or as high a penalty killing percentage (92.9%).

Toronto forward Natalie Spooner leads all players in points and goals (15-5-20 in 19 games) as well as power-play goals (5). She's also the PWHL's first 10- and 15-goal scorer and the only player with more than 10 goals, reaching that figure in just 11 games.

Elsewhere on the roster, Emma Maltais leads the PWHL in shorthanded goals with two, and goaltender Kristen Campbell leads goaltenders in wins with 12 in 17 games.

Minnesota remains in second place partly on the strength of their defensive core and goaltending, which has yielded the fewest goals against of any team (33 in 18 games). Among goalies with the majority of their team's starts, Nicole Hensley leads in both goals against average (1.79) and save percentage (0.935) in 10 games.

However, the team's penalty kill success rate is the lowest in the league, allowing 11 goals on 45 chances (75.6%).

Speaking of struggling special teams, 5th place squad Boston has scored on just three of its 43 chances (7%). They're the worst away team in the league (3-1-0-4 in 8 games, 0.458) and are tied with 6th place New York for the lowest total goals for with 36 in 18 games. As for home rankings, New York's 0-1-1-5 record in 7 games (0.143) is the lowest mark.

Other notable stats

• This season has seen 87 total skaters from 10 countries hit the back of the net through 55 games. Still no goalie goals, though!
• Nine jailbreak goals have been scored thus far.
• Ottawa has the highest power-play percentage (26.8%) of any team and is tied with Toronto for most goals against with 50 in 19 games.
• Minnesota is the only team to not yield any shorthanded goals, while every team has managed to score at least one.
• Newly acquired Ottawa forward Tereza Vanišová leads the league with 31 penalty minutes in 19 games.
• Even after suffering her first loss on March 8, Montréal goalie Elaine Chuli still leads all goalies in save percentage (0.958) and goals against average (1.34). However, she's also started fewer games than all but two players – Toronto's Erica Howe and Ottawa's Sandra Abstreiter.
• Minnesota's Grace Zumwinkle has scored four game-winning goals in 18 games, leading all players.
• New York's Alex Carpenter leads the league in overtime goals with two in 18 games.

All stats and photos courtesy of the PWHL.