The PWHL regular-season champion Montreal Victoire bucked the standings by choosing to open their semifinal playoff series facing the third-place — and two-time defending Walter Cup champion — Minnesota Frost, the team announced Sunday night.
In selecting Minnesota, Montreal also set the other best-of-five semifinal matchup of second-place Boston Fleet facing fourth-place Ottawa Charge.
Montreal finished with 62 points and in a tie for first with Boston
in the standings, but held the tiebreaker in having more overall wins, 22 to the Fleet’s 21. The PWHL has had its regular-season champion pick its opponent since the league launched three years ago.
And so far, the top team’s choice has backfired, including last year, when Montreal opted to play third-place Ottawa and lost the series in four games. In 2024, Toronto chose to play fourth-place Minnesota, and lost that series in five games.
The Fleet will open their series against Ottawa at Boston on Thursday night. The Victoire will open their series at Montreal on Saturday.
In choosing Minnesota, Montreal avoided a rematch of last year’s grueling semifinal series against the Charge in which all four games were decided by one goal — including the Victoire’s 3-2 win that required four overtime periods.
This year, Montreal swept its four-game season series against Minnesota, with two decided in overtime. The Victoire allowed a league-low 41 goals and finished second with 78 goals scored. Minnesota scored a league-leading 91 goals and were tied for fourth in allowing 73.
Ottawa won all four meetings against Boston, with three ending in shootouts and the other in overtime. And the Charge clinched the PWHL's fourth and final berth with a season-ending 3-0 win over Toronto on Saturday.
The regular-season standings haven’t mattered much in the past two PWHL playoffs, with the lower-seeded team winning each series.
Minnesota finished fourth in the standings each time before rolling to win the championship. The Frost beat Boston in five games to win the inaugural title in 2024. The following year, they defeated Ottawa in four games.
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
