Which PWHL Players Led Each Olympic Women's Hockey Team In Scoring?

After an intense couple of weeks watching the best women's hockey players in the world at the Olympics, it's now time for the PWHL to resume.

The PWHL sent 61 players over to Italy for the Games, where Team USA beat Canada 2-1 in overtime for gold. But the Olympics featured strong performances from PWHL players on more squads than the top two.

Now that Olympic ice hockey is over for the next four years, let's look at who the top PWHL players were on each national team.

Gold medal winner Team USA had four of the top five scorers in the tournament, but defenseman Megan Keller of the Boston Fleet led the way.

Leading the team and Olympics in scoring, she tallied nine points, including three goals and six assists. But no point was more significant than the goal she scored 4:07 into overtime to give the Americans their third women's hockey gold medal.

We must give an honorable mention to Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel, whose  0.980 save percentage led the Olympics.

Left winger Daryl Watts of the Toronto Sceptres ranked third overall in scoring and first for Canada. She came up with two goals and six assists for eight points.

Of course, captain Marie-Philip Poulin was front-and-center for Canada when she played after missing two round-robin games with an injury. The Montreal Victoire center had four points, including two goals in a 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.

Toronto Sceptres center Sara Hjalmarsson ranked fourth on Team Sweden in scoring with two goals and three assists for five points. The three players above her either play in the NCAA or the Swedish Women's League, though, so she led the four PWHL players on the squad in points.

Hjalmarsson finished tied for 16th overall in tournament scoring as Sweden took a step forward this year, barely missing out on bronze in an overtime loss to Switzerland.

Germany ranked fourth in goals-for, with 11, and Fleet right winger Laura Kluge played a huge role in that. She was tied for fifth in points and first for the Germans, with seven, made up from three goals and four assists. In the PWHL, she has one assist in 13 games, but she consistently logs more points on the national squad.

Victoire backup goaltender Sandra Abstreiter also represented Team Germany, ranking ninth with a save percentage of .907.

Fleet center Alina Muller was one of the Olympics' most valuable players, as she secured bronze for Team Switzerland with an overtime goal against Sweden.

She tallied six points with four goals and two assists, which placed her 11th overall and first by three points on her team.

Czechia suffered an upset loss to Sweden in the quarterfinal, but forward Natalie Mlynkova of the Victoire played a decent tournament, ranking 22nd overall and first for the Czechs with three goals and one assist for four points.

In the net, Klara Peslarova, who previously goaltended on the Boston Fleet, ranked fifth with a save percentage of 93.26.

Kristin Della Rovere played for the hosts, Team Italy.  A reserve player for the Sceptres, the center put up four points from two goals and two assists. She played for Ottawa in the inaugural 2023-24 PWHL season, recording a goal in nine games.

Team Japan didn't make it to the quarterfinals but scored seven goals across four games. Former PWHL forward Akane Shiga was a part of three, scoring once and making two assists.

Shiga also played for Ottawa in the PWHL's inaugural season but has spent the past two seasons with Lulea in Sweden.

Team France finished in last with a 0-3-1 record, only scoring four goals in the tournament.

Left winger Chloe Aurard-Bushee, who spent the last two seasons on the New York Sirens, managed one assist. The Fleet signed her before the season but cut her in training camp, so she went to play for Zurich in Switzerland.

Forward Michelle Karvinen of the Vancouver Goldeneyes recorded one assist for Team Finland, which only scored three times in five games.

Goaltender Sanni Ahola of the Ottawa Charge placed 10th with a save percentage of .881 for Finland.

With Olympic medals decided and international bragging rights settled, these players now shift focus back to the PWHL playoff race. Their performances on the Olympic stage didn't just elevate their national programs, but they elevated the PWHL itself. The regular season resumes Thursday with Montreal taking on New York.

Ella Corbin is an intern with The Hockey News.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.