The PWHL is back in action on Thursday night, as the Winter Olympics' brightest stars rejoin their club teams just one week after the gold-medal game — with the third-year pro hockey league racing toward the 2026 playoffs.
With two months remaining in the 2025/26 regular-season, the Boston Fleet currently tops the PWHL standings with 30 points, trailed by the No. 2 Minnesota Frost (28 points), No. 3 Montréal Victoire (27 points), and No. 4 New York Sirens (24 points).
While no team's been officially eliminated, the No. 5 Ottawa Charge, No. 6 Vancouver Goldeneyes, No. 7 Toronto Sceptres, and No. 8 Seattle Torrent all have post-Olympics ground to make up if they want to keep their postseason dreams alive.
Thursday night's matchup will see two Olympic foes team up, as Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin joins US star forward Hayley Scamurra on Montréal's line for the Victoire's clash with New York.
Then on Friday, US captain Hilary Knight and Team USA's 2026 Olympic leading scorer Hannah Bilka again join forces for Seattle as the Torrent host Toronto, before US veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield takes the ice for back-to-back champion Minnesota’s Sunday showdown in Montréal.
With 61 players — 30% of the entire league — returning from Milan, the PWHL is anticipating a further boost in interest after the Olympic tournament garnered record viewership this month.
"It's just the reality that women's hockey isn't going to go silent. It's not going to go dark," Coyne Schofield said ahead of last Thursday's gold medal final. "You'll be able to see every one of these players in tomorrow night's game a week from now, which is pretty awesome and hasn't been the case for the existence of women's hockey."
How to watch the PWHL on Thursday
The 2025/26 PWHL season returns to the ice on Thursday, when No. 3 Montréal visits No. 4 New York.
The puck drops at at 7 PM ET, live on YouTube.
