PWHL Players of the Week: Jenner, Philips lead Charge into Walter Cup Playoffs
The final week of the 2025-26 PWHL regular season had plenty of drama and storylines, with teams needing wins to secure the final Walter Cup Playoff spot and others trying to clinch home-ice advantage throughout the postseason.
It was three players from Canadian teams who shined this week, whether it was breakout offensive performances or impressive saves from the crease. Here’s this week’s PWHL players of the week for Daily Faceoff.
Hayley Scamurra, F (Montreal Victoire)
With the absence of Marie-Philip Poulin for chunks of the post-Olympic schedule, the Victoire needed their forward depth to step up, and we saw that last week with Hayley Scamurra.
Down 4-0 to the Vancouver Goldeneyes in the third period of last Wednesday’s game, Scamurra scored three goals in a span of 2:44, setting the PWHL record for the fastest hat trick.
TIC 👏 TAC 👏 TOE 👏 Hayley Scamurra scores three in a row in under three minutes for a hatty against Vancouver!
While Montreal failed to secure the comeback, they did defeat the Seattle Torrent 2-1 in a shootout over the weekend, clinching the PWHL regular-season championship and earning the right to choose their opponent in the 2026 Walter Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Scamurra finished the season with career highs in all offensive categories, scoring eight goals and recording eight assists for 16 points, finishing tied for second on the team in goals and fifth in points.
Brianne Jenner, F (Ottawa Charge)
While the three-year-old PWHL doesn’t have a “Comeback Player of the Year” award, the player I would mark on my ballot if it did would be Brianne Jenner. The Charge captain was coming off a seven-goal campaign that saw her produce just three points during Ottawa’s Walter Cup Final run. The departures of Tereza Vanisova and Shiann Darkangelo meant the remaining players from the group would need to step up, and that’s exactly what Jenner did.
The 34-year-old forward hit career highs in all offensive categories, scoring 12 goals and leading the team in both assists (14) and points (26), capped with a goal and two assists this past week. While Ottawa didn’t clinch a playoff spot against the Boston Fleet, Jenner scored the overtime winner and provided the Charge with momentum going into Saturday’s final game of the regular season.
🚨 Brianne Jenner (12) 🍎🍏 Ronja Savolainen
That’s where we saw Jenner and the rest of Ottawa at their finest, as the Charge defeated the Toronto Sceptrers 3-0, securing the PWHL’s fourth and final playoff spot and giving the team another chance at a Walter Cup. Ottawa now awaits Montreal’s decision on who they will face in the first round of the playoffs.
Gwyneth Philips, G (Ottawa Charge)
Jenner wasn’t the only one helping lead the Charge back to thet Walter Cup Playoffs. Goaltender Gwyneth Philips stopped 24 of 25 shots in a 2-1 overtime win over the Boston Fleet last Wednesday, a game that could have sealed their spot in the postseason had they won in regulation. Days later, Philips made 41 saves in a 3-0 win over the Toronto Sceptres, 30 of which came in the second and third period.
Philips ends the season with a 16-11-1 record with a .931 save percentage, a 2.12 goals against average and three shutouts. She won her last four games and allowed just two goals, stopping 130 of 132 shots and posting a .985 SV% in that span.
If the Charge are going to avenge their Walter Cup Final defeat, then Philips, who won the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award last spring, will need to play just as well as she did last year, if not better.