The trade deadline came and went without too much drama, and the Takeover Tour rolls into Detroit for the penultimate game. Here are the games we'll be paying closer attention to this week in the PWHL.
Sunday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern
Minnesota Frost at New York Sirens, Little Caesars Arena
The penultimate game of the Takeover Tour happens tomorrow in Detroit. The tour has been incredibly successful, with huge crowds, high energy, and competitive games.
That last one may or may not be true for tomorrow’s matchup; the Sirens are pretty firmly in last place (sorry Sam) and are tied for last in goals for in the league. But they’re still playing hard, and their goals against are pretty similar to Minnesota’s, so it could be a more even matchup than I’m expecting. Honestly, their previous games have all been one-goal games (other than one blowout in January, and that was in favor of the Sirens) so we’ll see what happens tomorrow!
It’s also a bit of a homecoming game for Frost’s Mellissa Channell Watkins, who played on the Little Caesar’s U16 AND U19 teams, and has already been showing her teammates around Detroit. And in my opinion that’s what makes the takeover tour so fun, no matter what the score ends up being.
Watch: TSN, MSG Networks, FanDuel Sports Network, PWHL YouTube
Tuesday, March 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern
Montréal Victoire at Boston Fleet
Hey, did you know the Victoire are really good?
They seem kind of unstoppable right now (though ironically they lost to last place New York last week), but Boston has been hot of late. The Fleet just picked up a huge win over Ottawa on March 15. They're in second place, creeping closer to Montréal. This seems like a game worth double the points for Boston.
In their loss to the Sirens last week, Victoire goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens allowed three goals against for the first time since Dec. 4, ending her streak of 14 consecutive starts with two or less goals against. Montréal forward Laura Stacey’s six-game point streak also came to an end in that game.
Plus, MPP vs Hilary Knight feels like a tale as old as time, they’ve been facing off against each other as members of Team Canada and Team USA respectively for over a decade. As two of the most dynamic players in women’s hockey, they always put on a good show.
Watch: NESN, Prime Video, PWHL YouTube
Saturday, March 22 at 12 p.m. Eastern
Ottawa Charge at New York Sirens
Ottawa is working with their top goaltender Emerance Maschmayer out of commission, and coming off a 5-2 loss to the Fleet at home (which snapped their win streak). They’re only six points ahead of the Sirens, and they're only five points back from fourth-place Frost. A regulation win here could make headway on closing the gap, and keeping the Sirens where they are.
Which, again, is at the bottom.
Watch: CBC Gem, MSG Networks, PWHL YouTube
