Around the PWHL: Race for fourth; Road warrior Philips; Another million reasons

THE race for fourth place is fully underway with a week left in the regular season. With only the Seattle Torrent eliminated from playoff contention, four teams are vying for the final playoff spot with three games remaining for each.

Thanks to a league-leading seven overtime wins, the Ottawa Charge sit in the fourth spot with 36 points.

The New York Sirens and Toronto Sceptres sit tied at 34 points, within easy striking distance of the Charge’s position, and the Vancouver Goldeneyes — though largely needing the three other clubs to lose some of their final games — are still in the race, sitting with 30 points.

It may all come down to next week’s super Saturday. What a thrill.

Now here’s other storylines as the PWHL’s regular season comes to a close.

Highlight of the week

A large part of why Toronto is still on the outside looking in is because of Gwyneth Philips. The Ottawa netminder stopped 42 shots on Saturday in the Charge’s 2-0 shutout win over the Sceptres.

It was the second straight blanking and road win for Philips, having stymied Seattle 2-0 on March 29.

Philips has the third most victories on the season with 13, behind the two best netminders in the league: Boston’s Aerin Frankel and Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, who boast 18 and 17 wins respectively going into Friday night’s action.

The Charge goalie carries a .926 save percentage and in her last two road wins she stopped 67 combined shots.

This can only be encouraging for Ottawa if they hang onto the final playoff spot with road warrior Philips backstopping the club.

One million more fans

By the time this story lands on the doorsteps of readers, the PWHL will have surpassed one million in attendance in a single season. The milestone will be hit during the Montreal Victoire and Boston Fleet game last night.

The magic of season three just keeps blooming.

While the league has reached one million in attendance before, it was over the first two seasons.

Other encouraging numbers? The average attendance has increased 28 per cent over last season and 62 per cent since the inaugural puck drop in 2024.

Here’s to one million more reasons to watch the coolest league on ice.

Game(s) to watch in Week 19

The game to watch is Ottawa hosting New York on Saturday (1 p.m. CT, CBC).

If the Sirens win, the club can bounce the Charge from third place. If Ottawa wins, they will gain valuable breathing room between the three others in the chase before next week’s super Saturday that concludes the regular season with all eight teams in action.

The race for fourth place never seemed so fun.

winnipegfreepress.com/graceannepaizen