Top 4 takeaways from Week 8 of the PWHL: Stacey shines in return, but Poulin could face discipline

We’re at the midway point of the 2024-25 PWHL season, and what a first half it’s been. The Montreal Victoire continue to dominate, New York’s top prospect continues to shine, and the final leg of the Canada-U.S. Rivalry Series is upon us.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s Top 4 Takeaways from Week 8 of the PWHL:

Stacey shines in return

After being out for more than two weeks with an injury, Victoire forward Laura Stacey came back with one of the best individual performances of the 2024-25 PWHL season, scoring a goal and adding two primary assists, as well as scoring in the shootout, to give the Victoire a 4-3 win over the Toronto Sceptres last Thursday.

Stacey, who now has four goals and three assists for seven points in 11 games, was a force all night, generating offense in the Sceptres end and finding teammates for their own chances while playing 20:29 of ice time. The highlight of the night for the Dartmouth University alumnus may have come in the shootout, as a pump fake and quick deke fools Toronto netminder Kristen Campbell and Stacey slides it in the open five hole.

Stacey says the crowd was electric and a big factor in the win.

“I think the feeling that we had at centre ice after the win would be my favourite moment of the night,” Stacey said. “Just the crowd––this crowd is electric. Honestly, I never felt so much love.”

Should Poulin be suspended?

After the Victoire’s win against the Sceptres, the team headed south to New Jersey to face the New York Sirens, a team desperate to gain points and separate themselves from the bottom half of the league. While Montreal got the 2-1 win, thanks in large part to Marie-Philip Poulin scoring twice, a hit by Poulin on Jade Downie-Landry may lead to further discipline.

With six minutes to go in the second period, Poulin came across the blue line in her zone and caught Downie-Landry from her blindside while she was in a vulnerable position. The New York forward stayed down on the ice for a few minutes and needed help off the ice, but she later returned to the game.

The play was reviewed and Poulin was given a five-minute major for charging. The Sirens couldn’t score on the power play, but the penalty essentially took Poulin out for the rest of the period.

There was plenty of back and forth on social media about the legality of the hit, and whether Poulin, who now has a league-leading 10 goals in 14 games, should face additional discipline. When I first saw the hit, I thought it was an unfortunate result of an awkward hit, and a penalty would be enough of a punishment. But when you see the replay, a few things become clear:

• Poulin never sees the front of Downie-Landry’s jersey or faces her head on
• Poulin doesn’t slow down before making contact
• While the hit is directly from behind, Poulin makes direct contact with Downie-Landry’s blindside

The PWHL wants to be a physical league, largely because the players have demanded a North American domestic league give them more room to be physical than the IIHF gives them in international competition. But the league doesn’t want to green light dangerous hits that could give players on the receiving end a concussion, or take them out of the lineup for the long term.

If the league serious about keeping players safe, they must recognize that even when star players commit a dangerous play, it’s still a dangerous play. If I were part of the league’s player safety committee, I would give Poulin a two-game suspension for the hit.

Filler continues to dominate

Everyone knew Sarah Fillier, taken No. 1 overall in last year’s PWHL Draft, would make an immediate impact once she stepped onto the ice for the Sirens. But I don’t know if anyone thought she would be this good. Fillier extended her point streak to six games and has found the scoresheet in all but two of her 14 contests this season, and going into the international break, she leads the league in points with 15.

It’s hard to really quantify just how much Fillier has meant to New York, a team that finished dead last in the standings in the league’s inaugural season and ended up with the top pick. Immediately on the top line with Alex Carpenter, Fillier found immediate chemistry, scoring two goals and five assists in her first four games, and more often than not keeping the puck out of the Sirens’ end, generating plenty of shots and opportunity on the opposing net.

One thing to think about as Fillier joins the Canadian National Team for the Rivalry Series is that the she only signed a one-year deal with the Sirens, and that was only signed five months after the team drafted her. Despite the one-year deal, New York still has Fillier’s player rights for at least one more year, meaning she can’t test the free agent waters after the 2024-25 season, but it does leave her with some wiggle room.

The league and PWHL Players’ Association announced ahead of last June’s draft that first-round picks would be paid $50,000. While PWHL salaries aren’t made public, multiple sources have confirmed that at least a handful of players in the league make more than $100,000, and it’s hard to imagine Fillier doesn’t try to push her $50,000 salary closer to what the league’s best players earn in the offseason. If the Sirens aren’t able to meet her number, Fillier may force New York’s hand and sign another one-year deal, letting her walk to free agency and negotiate the best deal possible with the league’s other five teams.

Rivalry Series predictions

The U.S. came out strong in the first game of the 2024-25 edition of the Rivalry Series, winning 7-2 off the strength of 2025 PWHL Draft top prospects Lacey Eden and Abbey Murphy scoring a pair of goals each. But Canada stormed back to win Game 2 and 3, giving them a 2-1 advantage going into this week’s pair of games.

From a Canadian perspective, Jocelyne Larocque, who was traded to the Ottawa Charge by the Sceptres earlier this season, could be reunited with Renata Fast on Canada’s blue line. Sophie Jaques joined the roster and could make her Canadian National Team debut in one of the last two games.

As for the U.S., defender Sydney Bard makes her National Team debut after turning into one of the more reliable blueliners for the Boston Fleet this season. Fellow defender Ally Simpson also joins the group, her first experience with a U.S. team since the 2017 and 2018 Under-18 squads.

As for predictions, I just hope everyone has fun and no one gets injured, affecting the second half of the PWHL regular season.

P.S. Go Canada.

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