Today the Professional Women’s Hockey League announced their Three Stars of the Week for the week of January 27th through February 2nd.
First Star – Marie-Philip Poulin (F – MON)
With a hat trick in Montréal’s 4-1 victory against Ottawa Wednesday and two goals four minutes apart in the second period of a 2-1 road triumph over the New York Sirens Sunday, Poulin doubled her goal total for the season and helped the first-place Victoire stretch their winning streak to five games. The Victoire captain played a pivotal role in Montréal’s three-win week, contributing five of the team’s nine regulation goals and sealing Thursday’s 4-3 shootout victory over Toronto with the winning goal. Her hat trick was the first in the PWHL this season and the second of Poulin’s PWHL career; she had three goals against New York on Jan. 10, 2024. With 10-2—12 in 14 games, Poulin has matched her goal total for last season and has helped Montréal expand its first-place lead over Minnesota to six points. She is now tied with Toronto’s Natalie Spooner for most career regular-season goals with 20 and leads the current campaign with 10; Toronto’s Hannah Miller is second with 7. This marks Poulin’s fourth Three Stars Of The Week recognition of the 2024-25 season and her second stint in the top spot, which she also achieved for the week of Jan. 6-12.
Second Star – Renata Fast (D – TOR)
Fast had points in all three of Toronto’s games last week. She had a career-high goal and two assists in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss at Minnesota, added an assist and took a season-high six shots on goal in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss at Montréal, then scored the game-winning goal on the power play to help the Sceptres collect a 4-2 victory over Ottawa at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday. The Sceptres boast the PWHL’s most powerful power play with 13 goals, and Fast has had a hand in nine of the scores (2-7—9). Her power-play point total, which leads the league, has been a key component in Toronto’s 28.9% success rate on the advantage, a significant lead over Minnesota’s 20.9%. With 3-10—13 in 15 games for the season, Fast has tied her point total across all 24 games last season and is tied for the team scoring lead with Miller (7-6—13) and second overall among PWHL defenders behind Minnesota’s Claire Thompson (3-11—14). Fast also now has a three-game point streak to go with her season-opening six-game point streak (1-5—6).
Third Star – Ann-Renee Desbiens (G – MON)
Desbiens made 31 saves in the victory over Ottawa Tuesday and 23 more in the triumph at New York Sunday, improving her statistics across three critical goaltending categories. Desbiens raised her season’s record to 8-1-1, lowered her PWHL-leading goals-against average (among netminders with 240 or more minutes of playing time) to 1.77 and improved her league-leading save percentage to .935 in helping Montréal carry its surge into the international break. The 30-year-old from Clermont, Québec, has surpassed her victory total for all of last season, when she was 7-5-4, and after allowing only a single goal in each of last week’s contests, Wednesday against Ottawa and Sunday in New York, has permitted just 18 goals in her 10 games. Her eight victories lead the PWHL, ahead of the six by Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney, Boston’s Aerin Frankel and New York’s Corinne Schroeder, who are tied for second. Desbiens’ save percentage leads Schroeder’s .933 by a whisper, while her goals-against average leads Rooney (1.96) and Schroeder (1.98).
*All Graphics and Pictures courtesy of the PWHL.
*Player Profiles written by PWHL Staff.
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