PWHL Power Rankings: There's A New Team At The Top (And At The Bottom)

Montreal takes over top spot after a pair of wins this week. They head toward the first of two lengthy breaks in the PWHL schedule.

The PWHL is entering a five day break while players participate in the NHL's All-Star Thursday, 3-on-3 Showcase. Following that, teams return for three games before a longer 10-day break to accommodate the Rivalry Series and Euro Hockey Tour. 

After a busy week, there's a new team atop The Hockey News' PWHL Power Rankings...and a new team at the bottom.

1. Montreal (Last Week: 3)

Montreal hasn't outplayed everyone, but the results say otherwise. In fact, Montreal was outshot 90-50 this week, which doesn't seem like top team material, but outstanding performances from Elaine Chuli and Ann-Renee Desbiens in net propelled PWHL Montreal to back-to-back 2-1 wins over Minnesota and Ottawa, the two teams who held THN-W's top spots in last week's power rankings. Offensively, Laura Stacey, Maureen Murphy, and Tereza Vanisova showed that Montreal has more weapons in their arsenal than Marie-Philip Poulin alone. They may not have been pretty wins, but they were wins all the same, and it was enough to put Montreal into a first place tie with Minnesota.

2. Minnesota (Last Week: 1)

Back-to-back losses at the hands of Boston and Montreal this week dropped Minnesota out of top spot. It looked like they could lose a third until Abigail Boreen scored an overtime winner against New York. Fans may have thought Minnesota was the clear top dog in the league, but the level of parity is proving any team can win on any given night, particularly with the level of goaltending in the league. Speaking of goaltending, Maddie Rooney had a bit of an off game against Boston as Minnesota allowed four goals for the first time this season. Hensley however was spectacular in Connecticut against New York. It was a quiet week for Taylor Heise, but there was promise as we started to see signs of Kendall Coyne Schofield finding her way again.

3. Ottawa (Last Week: 2)

Trust the process. If you chat with folks inside PWHL Ottawa's circle, you'll hear some version of this phrase related to their up and down start. Few teams have the chemistry that Ottawa has, and despite the lack of wins, they are verging on something big if a few small pieces can fall into place. If you look at their play, Ottawa has outshot opponents in five of their six games, they've lost three of their six games in overtime, they had a massive gap in their schedule following a cancelled game, faced questionable calls that impacted results, and even faced a pair of penalty shots in their first six games. And through it all, no one is questioning the potential in Ottawa's lineup. If anything, under Carla MacLeod's guidance, this early season adversity will be a long term benefit.

4. Boston (Last Week: 5)

Boston got big wins this week against Ottawa and Minnesota. Scoring has been a major issue for all teams this season, but many predicted Boston would be lighting the lamp far more than they have. The good news for Boston this week is that Alina Muller, Jamie Lee Rattray, and Hilary Knight all got their first goals of the year, and Muller got her second shortly thereafter. If it's a sign Boston's offense is beginning to click, their upcoming opponents better hunker down. How the long upcoming breaks impact the momentum Boston had built is still to be seen.

5. Toronto (Last Week: 6)

Toronto was by far the most improved team in the league this week. They played two strong games, forcing turnovers, remaining physical, and applying pressure all over the ice. It's the type of hockey Troy Ryan pushes, and it started paying off this week. Natalie Spooner was a force to be reckoned with in their win over New York, and perhaps the most pleasant surprises for Toronto this week came in the form of Sam Cogan and Rebecca Leslie, who were play drivers. Kristen Campbell earned a shutout, which after a shootout victory in her last game, Campbell is moving in the right direction for a team that desperately needs consistency in the crease.

6. New York (Last Week: 4)

New York is holding on by a thread after dropping both their games this week. They got back Micah Zandee-Hart this week, which as she gets back up to speed will be a major boost. Corinne Schroeder and Abbey Levy are giving New York a chance to win every night, but there's a lot of cleaning up to do on the roster.