Her Puck Perspective: Women’s Hockey Weekly Recap – January 26, 2026 

Before diving into this week’s women’s hockey recap, I want to acknowledge the difficult reality unfolding here in Minnesota. The events happening across our state are deeply troubling, and they weigh heavily on so many of us. While I don’t use this blog to cover those issues directly, that absence should never be mistaken for indifference. I do not condone what ICE is doing in our communities, and I’m not looking away from the impact it’s having on people who are scared, hurting, and trying to navigate an impossible situation.

This space has always been a place where I focus on women’s hockey — a corner of joy, connection, and escape. Even so, I remain committed to supporting my community beyond these posts and doing what I can in my own life to show up for the people around me.

With that said, let’s turn to the ice and look back at another full week in women’s hockey.

This was our last full week of PWHL games before the Olympic break; each team plays just 1 more game before that break begins, so this was our last busy week of PWHL news and games for awhile, and there was plenty that happened in a busy week of hockey. The NCAA will continue will a full slate of games through the Olympic weeks, even with the top teams missing their best players, so it will be interesting to see how those games turn out while a lot of focus is on the Olympics.

News/Notes/Roster Updates

• The Sceptres activated defender Allie Munroe for LTIR and returned Hanna Baskin to the reserve list.
• The Goldeneyes signed forward Malia Schneider to a 10-day contract.
• The University of Missouri announced they will add a women’s hockey team starting next season.
• Victoire goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens became the first goalie in the PWHL to reach 30 total wins.
• The Sirens signed Olivia Knowles to a 10-day contract with Anne Cherkowski being day to day with a non-hockey related procedure recently happening for Cherkowski.

PWHL Games

Charge @ Sirens

• Final Score: Charge 4, Sirens 3 (OT)
• Attendance: 2,759
• Thoughts: This was a crazy, back and forth game. It was the first game post-trade for the Charge, which meant that Cava, McQuigge, and Greco were in the lineup for the first time for their new team. The Sirens outshot the Charge 34-21, and they had to mount a big comeback to even get this game to OT after the Charge got out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Gabbie Hughes and Rebecca Leslie in the first period, and Brianne Jenner in the second period. The Sirens got a goal from Jaime Bourbonnais in the second period, and goals less than 2 minutes apart in the third period from Kristin O’Neill and Anne Cherkowski to tie the score before Sarah Wozniewicz won the game for the Charge in OT. There were a lot of penalties in this game, 3 against the Sirens and 7 against the Charge, but only 1 power play goal. This was the first Sirens game this season without Kayle Osborne in net, with Callie Shanahan making her PWHL debut.

Sceptres @ Torrent 

• Final Score: Torrent 6, Sceptres 4
• Attendance: 10,160
• Thoughts: The Torrent and Sceptres both seemed like they woke up a bit in this game! It was the highest scoring game of the season so far in the PWHL that saw 4 total goals scored in the first period, the first two by the Sceptres before the Torrent tied the score. The teams traded goals in the second period, each notching one in the period. The third period saw the Torrent score 3 goals, including a jailbreak by Lexie Adzija, and the Sceptres added one goal of their own. The Torrent were on a 3-game losing streak, and needed to start turning things around, and this was a good game for them to start doing so.

Victoire @ Frost 

• Final Score: Victoire 2, Frost 1 (OT)
• Attendance: 6,113
• Thoughts: The Victoire continue to get just enough scoring. They are one of the lower scoring teams in the league, but with Ann-Renée Desbiens in the net, and defenders like Erin Ambrose holding things down, they continue to find success. They even made some line adjustments in this game to try to get scoring from lines other than their top line, but it didn’t lead to a huge increase in goals in this first game. Maureen Murphy scored in the 2nd period for the Victoire, and Kelly Pannek tied the game with around a minute left in the 3rd period to send the game to OT. Marie-Philip Poulin made a ridiculously beautiful spin move in OT to score the game-winner. There’s just not enough words to describe Marie-Philip Poulin and her skill, but this was another special play from her. The Victoire’s win in OT moved them just 1 point behind the Frost for 3rd place in the standings, and just 2 points out of 2nd place. The standings change so quickly it’s silly to get too invested in where things stand at any one moment, but it’s still fun to keep an eye and see how things keep moving after each game.

Sceptres @ Goldeneyes 

• Final Score: Goldeneyes 5, Sceptres 0
• Attendance: 14,006
• Thoughts: This was the Goldeneye’s first game after the big trade, and it definitely seems like they have woken up! In Sarah Nurse’s 2nd game back from injury, she continues to make a huge impact, and this team looked much more like the one everyone expected (and many probably feared) before the season started. Sarah Nurse had 2 more goals in this game, and the Goldeneyes also got goals from Izzy Daniel, Tereza Vanišová, and Abby Boreen, along with strong goaltending from Kristen Campbell for a complete, convincing win on home ice. The Sceptres are continuing to struggle, and they will need to figure out a way to set things right very quickly or their playoff hopes may become out of reach quickly.

Charge @ Victoire 

• Final Score: Victoire 3, Charge 1
• Attendance: 10,172
• Thoughts: The Victoire continue to roll! Maureen Murphy scored 2 goals in the first period, and the Victoire never looked back for the rest of the game. With Desbiens in net, they’re continuing to win with just enough goal scoring. The Victoire continue to put a lot of shots on goal, with 36 in this game, but their shooting percentage has to be one of the lower ones in the league, as they continue to shoot but aren’t scoring at a high rate. It doesn’t matter as long as they keep finding ways to win, but could be something to keep an eye on after the Olympic break if they start to struggle at all. The Charge didn’t put enough shots on goal to beat a goalie like Desbiens, with 24 shots on goal just not going to be enough to beat a goalie of her caliber on most nights.

Sirens @ Frost 

• Final Score: Frost 6, Sirens 2
• Attendance: 7,752
• Thoughts: The Frost’s offense continues to show up, as they are one of the highest scoring teams in the league. They came within 1 second of tying the PWHL record for fastest 2 goals by one team, with Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield scoring goals just 12 seconds apart (the Goldeneyes just set the record earlier this week at 11 seconds). Kristýna Kaltounková continues to make an early case for the Rookie of the Year award, scoring her 9th goal of the season, which is just 1 goal behind Coyne Schofield for the league lead. The Frost took hold of this game in the 2nd period behind goals from Katy Knoll and Grace Zumwinkle, and they kept the foot on the gas with an empty netter and a PP goal late in the 3rd period. The Sirens played a decent game overall, and they matched the Frost for much of the game in terms of shots on goal and scoring chances, but the Frost just seemed to find a way to finish with almost every good scoring chance they got. This regulation loss ended the Siren’s long streak of getting at least 1 point in the standings, and the Frost jumped over the Victoire and Sirens to launch themselves into 2nd place in the standings. Of course, everything can chance quickly in the standings, but it was an impactful 3 standings points for the Frost on this day.

Goldeneyes @ Torrent 
Takeover Tour game at Ball Arena, Denver, CO 

• Final Score: Goldeneyes 3, Torrent 1
• Attendance: 11,612
• Thoughts: The Goldeneyes look like they might be starting to get on a roll! Sarah Nurse’s return to the lineup certainly has a lot to do with that, and I think the wake up call of the trade could have also been impactful on the team as well. They got a goal from Jenn Gardiner in the last 5 seconds of the first period to take the lead, and even after the Torrent tied things up in the second period off a beautiful breakaway goal by Jessie Eldridge, the Goldeneyes felt like they were in control for much of this game. Goals from Izzy Daniel and Michelle Karvinen in the third period sealed the victory for the Goldeneyes. It was a nice crowd for this Takeover Tour game in Denver, even despite the Broncos playing in the AFC Championship game right near the rink and overlapping with the time of the game. There were some loud “We want a team” cheers throughout the game, and I think Denver has to be in the running for an expansion team.

NCAA Matchups

#1 Wisconsin vs. Bemidji State 
#2 Ohio State vs. St. Thomas 
#3 Minnesota vs. #15 St. Cloud State 
4 Penn State vs. Delaware 
#5 UConn vs. #8 Northeastern 
#6 Quinnipiac vs. Colgate & #12 Cornell 
#7 Princeton vs. #12 Cornell & Colgate 
#9 MN Duluth @ #13 MN State Mankato 
#10 Yale: no games 

Northeastern had a strong weekend, sweeping UConn in a home and home weekend matchup. Princeton had a less successful weekend, losing to both Cornell and Colgate over the course of the weekend. MN Duluth and MN State Mankato had an exciting, competitive first game of their weekend, officially ending the game 0-0, with MN Duluth getting the extra point in the standings in the shootout. MN Duluth won the second game of the weekend 3-0, but a strong showing for MN State Mankato was well on the weekend.

The other top ranked teams all took care of business in their weekend matchups, all of them winning both games over the weekend.