Five takeaways from Week 9 of the PWHL: Toronto steps up against Montreal, Minnesota righting the ship

It looks like there’s a new top dog in the Professional Women’s Hockey League – and another squad is looking to challenge that sooner rather than later.

Along with a couple of notable performances, the past week of action has given us plenty to talk about.

1. Toronto shines in heavyweight matchup

A lot of people, including yours truly, were doubting Toronto after their disappointing start to the season.

I can’t speak for everybody, but my thoughts on this team have definitely changed, especially after how they played against Montreal on Friday night.

In a matchup between the two best teams, Toronto outplayed Montreal, which had been holding first place in the league standings, outshooting Montreal 33-23. Hannah Miller and Rebecca Leslie each scored for the team from the Six, with Emma Maltais’ empty-net jailbreak goal sealing the 3-0 win.

Kristen Campbell stood tall on Friday, stopping every shot she faced while posting her league-leading third shutout of the season.

Thanks to the team’s nine-game winning streak, Toronto is now tied with Montreal for the top spot in the league. Seeing players like Leslie and Maltais produce shows Toronto has depth on the offensive end that other teams do not have.

2. A very chippy game

One of the other storylines from the clash between Toronto and Montreal was how nasty things got.

With the league allowing body-checking this season, players have been playing on the edge throughout the year. On Friday night, tensions started to boil over in the second period in what was already a physical contest.

Montreal forward Sarah Lefort hit Leslie right near the Montreal bench. Toronto’s Allie Munroe came over to get some redemption for her teammate, which sparked a brief melee.

Six players ended up being handed roughing minors on the play. Montreal’s Catherine Dubois and Sarah Bujold, along with Alexa Vasko and Brittany Howard of Toronto, also went to the box. Howard was involved in another incident later on in the game, throwing a dangerous cross-check up high on defender Catherine Daoust.

Howard was not penalized on the play, but thankfully Daoust skated off the ice under her own power.

DFO tried to contact the PWHL to see if there would be any supplemental discipline from the game, but they have yet to comment. Montreal head coach Kori Chevrie told the media after the game that she expected many clips from the game to be examined.

It will be interesting to see how these two teams got at each other when they meet in Pittsburgh next Sunday during Takeover Weekend.

3. Minnesota is back on track

Minnesota had been slipping in recent weeks. With Taylor Heise out of the lineup, the team’s offense struggled to score, and ended up on a three-game losing streak, scoring just four goals over that span.

However, Heise returned to the lineup last Sunday, and it has given the team a little jump. After snapping the skid with a 2-0 win against New York, Minnesota took the play to Ottawa last Tuesday, outshooting their opponent 47-25. Though they needed a shootout, in which Heise scored the clinching goal, Minnesota is playing with some pep in their step that has not been seen since the early weeks of the season.

They do sit third in the league standings but are just three points back of Toronto and Montreal for first.

4. Brandt bolsters Boston

With how tight the playoff race is in the PWHL and with less than half of the season remaining, every point matters. With that, every big performance can be crucial in a team’s quest for the playoffs.

On Sunday against New York, Hannah Brandt came in clutch for her team. Prior to the game, the former Golden Gopher had scored just two goals and an assist in her first 14 games. She ended up doubling her goal total against N.Y., scoring the first goal of the game on Sunday. Brandt followed that up by connecting with Jamie Lee Rattray to score in overtime, giving Boston a much-needed two points in a 4-3 win.

While they could not score the full three points, Boston picked up an important win, erasing a short two-game losing skid. They are currently tied with Ottawa for fourth place, the last playoff spot in the PWHL.

5. Trade talks quiet heading into deadline

The first-ever PWHL Trade Deadline is at 11:59 p.m. ET on St. Patrick’s Day, which means teams have six days to make final additions, or subtractions to their lineups.

However, despite the ability of general managers to make changes, there has not been a whole lot of action on the trade market.

Since the league’s first trade, in which Minnesota acquired Sophie Jaques from Boston for Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook, the intrateam movement has been minimal.

From speaking to GMs around the league, the biggest hurdle early on was trying to figure out how to make a trade in the new league. Also, with a short 24-game season, they have been waiting as long as possible to try and get enough of a sample size to determine if they need to find talent elsewhere to make their teams better.

Sure, the PWHL deadline will not be as hectic as the NHL’s, but I expect there to be some action over the next few days.