PWHL Players of the Week: Girard, Thompson and Osborne shine in season openers
Hello everyone, and welcome back for another season of Daily Faceoff’s PWHL Players of the Week!
This year, Tyler Kuehl, Ben Steiner and myself will rotate each week and make our choices for the league’s best performances. I won the rock-paper-scissors contest and got first at-bat for the opening week’s top players.
If you haven’t already, check out Daily Faceoff’s 2025-26 season forecast, where Tyler, Ben and I make our predictions for the most exciting teams, the most disappointing, our MVP picks and who will finish at the top of the league.
Taylor Girard (F, New York Sirens)
It can’t get much better than a hat trick in the regular-season opener, and that’s what New York Sirens’ forward Taylor Girard did in their 4-0 win over the Ottawa Charge.
What makes her performance on Saturday even more impressive was A) She was able to do it in just 9:51 of ice time, B) Scored all her goals in a nine-minute span in the third period, and C) She generated seven total shots, looking like she was shot out of a cannon on every shift.
TAYLOR GIRARD OPENS THE SCORING IN THE THIRD FOR NEW YORK! 🔥#PWHL pic.twitter.com/bT91QIJurN
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 23, 2025We’ll see if Girard’s three-goal performance spurs head coach Greg Fargo to play her more as the season progresses. But for now, Sirens fans will appreciate witnessing one of the best season-opening games in the league’s short history.
Claire Thompson (D, Vancouver Goldeneyes)
Credit to the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent for putting on one of the most exciting games in recent memory, grinding out a 4-3 overtime victory in favour of the Goldeneyes. While each team saw impressive nights from their top players, no one looked more in control than Claire Thompson.
Claire Thompson ties this game up late for the Vancouver Goldeneyes — an all-important goal in her first game wearing Vancouver’s “A.”
Less than two minutes to go, all level at 3-3.
The crowd pop at the Pacific Coliseum is awesome.pic.twitter.com/G3IJLFv0He
In the macro, it cannot be overstated how stunning it is for Thompson to have taken a full year off, come back last season with the Minnesota Frost and wind up being both a Walter Cup champion and a finalist for Defender of the Year. In the micro, she kicked off the 2025-26 season as if nothing’s changed, scoring a goal and an assist in just over 21 minutes of ice time, along with two blocked shots and a hit in her own end.
Goldeneye fans are spoiled with the likes of Thompson, Sophie Jaques and Ashton Bell on their blue line, and Thompson may be the best of the group.
Kayle Osborne (G, New York Sirens)
Looking back at Saturday’s Sirens-Charge game, New York was all over Ottawa, especially in the third period as they generated 17 shots at the Charge goal. But it was on the other end of the ice where New York never panicked, as Kayle Osborne stopped 28 shots to earn the shutout.
CREASE ON LOCK 🔒@PWHL_NewYork’s Kayle Osborne delivers a shutout to open the year! pic.twitter.com/UZosWLVucl
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) November 23, 2025If you only read the scoresheet for Saturday’s game, you might think it was New York in complete control for most of the game, yet it was Ottawa who was all over the Sirens throughout the first 20 minutes. But Osborne stood tall, facing several high-danger chances through the opening frame and letting nothing get by.
With the offseason departure of Corinne Schroeder, New York fans should be excited to see how good their new starting goalie will be.