PWHL Players at the 2025 Worlds: After the Preliminary Round

Hello again PWHL fans! The knockout rounds are underway at the 2025 Worlds, which means it's time to take a look back at how every PWHL player performed for their country in the second half of the preliminary round. This update will not reference the first half of the preliminary round much since it’s already a behemoth, so for an idea of how every player did then, check out my first update here. 

Canada

Canada finished as the second seed in the knockout rounds for the second consecutive year. In their third game, they fell to their archrivals, the United States, 2-1. Then, they got quite a scare from host Czechia in their final preliminary game, leading just 2-1 after two periods. However, they managed to find their offense in the third period, potting five goals for a 7-1 final. Still, it’s been a bit of a weird tournament for Canada. They’ll need to keep that third-period energy up in the knockout rounds, or they may not like where they stand come Sunday.

Minnesota Frost:

• Sophie Jaques (D)
• Claire Thompson (D)

Jaques notched her first senior Worlds goal to cap off the scoring during Canada’s beatdown of Czechia. In two of her appearances, Jaques was a third-pairing defender, although she was bumped down to the seventh slot against the United States. All told, she’s averaged 10:15 TOI. As for Thompson, she picked up an assist against Czechia. She was a second-pairing defender in her three appearances, averaging 17:10 TOI.

Montréal Victoire:

• Jennifer Gardiner (F)
• Kristin O’Neill (F)
• Marie-Philip Poulin (F)
• Laura Stacey (F)
• Erin Ambrose (D)
• Ann-Renée Desbiens (G)

The all-Montréal top line of Poulin, Stacey, and Gardiner continues to find success for Canada. Poulin remains a woman on a mission, leading the tournament with eight points (3G, 5A) while being in a three-way tie for the lead in goals and assists. Meanwhile, Stacey (2G, 3A) and Gardiner (3G, 2A) each added two more points in the second half of the preliminary round

O’Neill and Ambrose also found their way onto the scoresheets these past two games. O’Neill scored twice against Czechia as a member of the fourth line, while Ambrose picked up two assists in the same game. She’s been an anchor on the second pairing for Canada, averaging 17:52 TOI. 

Last but not least, Desbiens made her second start of the tournament against the United States, allowing two goals on 28 shots. She now owns a 1.00 GAA and 0.956 SV% heading into the knockout rounds.

New York Sirens:

• Sarah Fillier (F)
• Ella Shelton (D)
• Micah Zandee-Hart (D)

Fillier and Shelton were held without a point these past two games after getting on the board in the first half of the preliminary round. Fillier remains securely on Canada’s second line, while Shelton has stayed locked into her spot on Canada’s top defense pairing. Shelton is averaging 20:47 TOI, which is second on the team. Last but not least, Zandee-Hart was scratched against the United States, but returned to her seventh defender spot against Czechia. She logged 8:53 TOI in that game, which brought her tournament average to 10:19 across three appearances.

Ottawa Charge: 

• Emily Clark (F)
• Brianne Jenner (F)
• Danielle Serdachny (F)
• Jocelyne Larocque (D)

Clark and Jenner continue to be Canada’s third-line wing pairing. Clark has yet to find her way onto the scoresheet aside from nine shots, while Jenner was also held without a point these past two games. Meanwhile, Serdachny picked up an assist against Czechia as a member of the fourth line. She’s split the tournament evenly between the fourth line and 13th forward spots, averaging 7:49 per game. 

On defense, Larocque continues to hold down the fort on the third pairing, mentoring some of Canada’s young defenders while averaging 18:28 TOI and notching two assists against Czechia. 

Toronto Sceptres:

• Emma Maltais (F)
• Sarah Nurse (F)
• Natalie Spooner (F)
• Blayre Turnbull (F)
• Daryl Watts (F)
• Renata Fast (D)
• Kristen Campbell (G)

Nurse and Watts continue to play together on Canada’s second line. They have yet to combine for a goal, but both got on the board again against Czechia. Watts scored her second of the tournament, while Nurse assisted on Jaques’ first senior Worlds goal along with Fast, who leads all Canadian players in average TOI at 23:02.

Moving down the lineup, Turnbull remains on Canada’s third line, where she’s registered seven shots while averaging 15:46 TOI. On the fourth line, Maltais and Spooner stayed together for against the United States, where both were held pointless. Spooner was then scratched against Czechia, while Maltais stayed in the lineup and notched an assist. Finally, Campbell saw her second start of the tournament against Czechia, where she allowed one goal on 19 shots, bringing her tournament statistics to a 0.50 GAA and 0.977 SV%.

Czechia

Czechia is enjoying the spoils of hosting the top division Worlds for the first time, playing in front of electric crowds every game. They didn’t finish as high as they would’ve liked, landing the fourth seed after losing to Finland 4-2 and Canada 7-1. However, that might be for the best as now they get to face #5 Switzerland in the quarterfinals, instead of the dangerous-looking Swedes. Czechia already took down Switzerland once this year, defeating them 3-0 in their opening game.

Boston Fleet

• Daniela Pejšová (D)
• Klára Peslarová (G)

Pejšová remained on Czechia’s second pairing for their crucial game against Finland, but she was elevated to the top pairing for the Canada game. She banked an assist against Finland and is up to seven total shots on goal while averaging 19:12 TOI. As for Peslarová, despite her best efforts, things did not go her way in either the Finland or Czechia game. She owns a 1-0-0-2 record through the preliminary round along with a 3.27 GAA and 0.897 SV%.

Minnesota Frost:

• Klára Hymlárová (F)
• Denisa Křížová (F)

Hymlárová and Křížová were reunited on Czechia’s third line against Finland before Křížová was elevated to the second line against Canada. Hymlárová was held without a point in both games, while Křížová tallied a secondary assist against Finland. 

Montréal Victoire:

• Dominika Lásková (D)

Lásková held down the fort on Czechia’s third pairing against Finland before being elevated to the second pair against Canada. She’s been limited to just one shot through four games, but has averaged 19:25, which is good for third on the team.

Ottawa Charge:

• Kateřina Mrázová (F)
• Tereza Vanišová (F)
• Aneta Tejralová (D)

Mrázová slotted back into her first-line wing spot against Finland and Canada, tallying one assist against Finland. Meanwhile, Vanišová was a second-line wing in both games, and she scored a goal against Finland to show for it. Last but not least, Tejralová remained a rock on Czechia’s top defense pairing, notching an assist against Finland while averaging 19:14 TOI throughout the tournament.

Toronto Sceptres:

• Noemi Neubauerová (F)

Neubauerová remained on Czechia’s third line against Finland before dropping to the fourth against Canada. She’s been limited to three shots through four games while averaging 14:17 TOI.

Finland

It was a little dicier than they probably would’ve liked, but Finland locked down the third seed in Group A with a 4-2 win over Czechia and then a 2-1 defeat of Switzerland. They finished the preliminary round 2-0-0-2 and faced a tough quarterfinal test against a hungry Sweden team, but walked away with a narrow 3-2 victory (stats from that game will be in the next update).

Boston Fleet:

• Susanna Tapani (F)

Tapani got her first point this tournament against Czechia with a primary assist on the team’s fourth goal. She remained locked into the first line center spot, firing two total shots on goal while averaging 19:12 TOI.

New York Sirens:

• Noora Tulus (F)

Tulus had a great second half of the preliminary round as Finland’s second-line center, tallying two assists against Czechia and another against Switzerland. She’s tied with Ronja Savolainen for the team lead in points.

Ottawa Charge:

• Ronja Savolainen (D)

Like Tulus, Savolainen has enjoyed a strong second half of the tournament. She notched a goal and an assist against Czechia before opening the scoring with a shorthanded goal against Switzerland. She’s anchored the team’s second defense pairing, averaging 21:45 TOI, which is third on the team, narrowly behind Finland's top pairing defenders.

Germany

Things did not go as planned for Germany this year, who hopes to challenge for the top seed in Group B. They finished 2-0-0-2 after beating Hungary 4-1 and losing to Japan 1-0. Still, they managed to get into the quarterfinals as the last seed, although one imagines it won’t be a pretty game against the United States.

Montréal Victoire:

• Sandra Abstreiter (G)

Abstreiter started all preliminary round games for Germany, and despite going 2-0-0-2, she owns a strong 2.02 GAA and 0.913 SV% after turning aside 84 of 92 shots. 

Toronto Sceptres: 

• Laura Kluge (F)

Kluge continued to center Germany’s top line, notching a goal and two assists against Hungary. She’s tied for the team lead with four points on the tournament, while firing seven shots on goal and averaging 23:04 TOI, leading all German forwards. 

Sweden

Sweden has played like a team with a chip on their shoulder after a tougher 2024 tournament. They made relatively easy work of Group B, outscoring opponents 17-2 en route to a perfect 4-0-0-0 finish. They drew Japan and Norway in the second half of the preliminary round, downing Japan 2-0 before dominating Norway 8-0.

Boston Fleet:

• Emma Söderberg (G)

Söderberg made her third start of the tournament against Japan, where she posted her second straight shutout. She faced 60 shots in the preliminary round, turning aside 58 of them for a 0.67 GAA and 0.967 SV%.

Montréal Victoire:

• Lina Ljungblom (F)

Ljungblom remained the team’s second-line center these past two games, tallying a goal and an assist against Norway. She finished the preliminary round tied for the team lead in shots with 13 while averaging 17:45 TOI.

Toronto Sceptres: 

• Anna Kjellbin (D)

Kjellbin continues to anchor the top defense pairing, picking up an assist against Norway while leading all Swedish players in average TOI at 20:49.

Switzerland

Switzerland has had a tournament to forget. They scored just one goal, and it came in their third game of the tournament. In the second half, they lost to Finland 2-1 before falling 5-0 to the United States, who outshot them a whopping 53-6. That said, SDHL goaltender Andrea Brändli did her part to keep her team within games, allowing 12 goals on 124 shots.

Boston Fleet:

• Alina Müller (F)

Müller scored Switzerland’s lone goal in the preliminary round. She led the team with 16 shots on goal through four games as the team’s top-line center. She heads into the knockout rounds averaging 20:13, which is good for third on the team. 

United States

For the second straight year, the United States is the top seed in the knockout rounds. They took down Canada 2-1 on Sunday before beating Switzerland 5-0 on Tuesday. Now the question becomes: can they break the curse of the first overall seed leaving with the silver medal?

Boston Fleet:

• Hilary Knight (F)
• Megan Keller (D)
• Aerin Frankel (G)

Knight has had another tournament to remember, picking up three assists against Switzerland to become the tournament’s all-time assist leader (50 total). She’s tied with Alex Carpenter for the team lead in points with six, and leads the team with shots (23), ten more than anyone else. As for Keller, she scored the game-winning goal against Canada. She’s averaged 19:13 across four appearances, which is second on the team. Last but not least, Frankel made her second start of the tournament on Sunday, turning aside 18 of 19 shots. She owns a 2-0-0-0 record along with a 1.00 GAA and 0.949 SV%. 

Minnesota Frost:

• Kendall Coyne Schofield (F)
• Britta Curl-Salemme (F)
• Taylor Heise (F)
• Kelly Pannek (F)
• Grace Zumwinkle (F)
• Lee Stecklein (D)

Coyne Schofield and Pannek stayed together on the third line for the second half of the preliminary round. Coyne Schofield notched an assist against Canada before scoring twice against Switzerland to give her 79 all-time points at the Worlds, surpassing Cammi Granato for second among American players at the tournament. Meanwhile, Pannek picked up an assist in each game, including on Coyne’s first goal. As for Heise, she was held without a point these past two games, but remains the team’s second-line center, averaging 17:44 TOI.

Moving down the lineup, Curl-Salemme remained the fourth-line center, taking a penalty against Canada while firing six total shots on goal and averaging 12:05 TOI. Meanwhile, both Zumwinkle and Stecklein were scratched against Czechia. Previously, Zumwinkle was a second-line wing against Canada and averaged 9:34 TOI across three appearances. As for Stecklein, she tallied a goal against Canada from the third pairing. 

Montréal Victoire:

• Cayla Barnes (D)
• Anna Wilgren (D)

Barnes has been a third-pairing defender this tournament, landing six total shots on goal in 15:01 average TOI. Meanwhile, Wilgren drew into the lineup for the first time against Switzerland, tallying an assist and two shots in 11:25 TOI. 

New York Sirens:

• Alex Carpenter (F)

Carpenter continues to be perhaps the Americans’ best playmaker, tallying three assists against Switzerland to give her six total points (1G, 5A) this tournament, which is tied with Knight for the team lead. 

Ottawa Charge:

• Gwyneth Phillips (G)

Phillips made her second start of the tournament against Switzerland, although she was pulled halfway through to allow NCAA netminder Ava McNaughton to get a taste of action. Phillips stopped all 13 shots she faced in her 91:04 TOI. 

United States:

• Jesse Compher (F)
• Hayley Scamurra (F)
• Savannah Harmon (D)

Compher was the 13th forward against Canada before slotting into a fourth-line spot against Switzerland. She’s been held without a point, but has registered two shots on goal while averaging 8:26 TOI. Meanwhile, Scamurra continued her strong tournament from her fourth-line wing spot. She banked an assist on Keller’s goal against Canada along with Harmon, who was the seventh defender for that game. Harmon then hopped up to the third pairing against Switzerland. She's averaged 12:39 TOI through four appearances.