2026 Walter Cup playoffs

Montreal (1) vs. Minnesota (3)

Montreal finished first overall in the league with a record of 16-6-2-6, earning 62 points. Minnesota finished third overall with 50 points and a record of 13-3-5-9. Montreal won all four games against Minnesota in the regular season, two of which were in overtime.^[10]

The Minnesota Frost took the series lead in Game 1 with a 5-4 win after Jincy Roese scored 4:30 into overtime. It was the third straight year that Montreal lost game one of their first round series on home ice. Katy Knoll, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, and Sidney Morin scored the other goals for Minnesota, while Shiann Darkangelo gave the Victoire their first goal. The Victoire's other three goals were all scored by Laura Stacey, marking the first playoff hat trick in league history.^[11] Minnesota's Britta Curl-Salemme was suspended for one game due to an illegal check to the head against Kaitlin Willoughby and fined $250 due to pulling Abby Roque's facial protector, which caused Roque to fall to the ice.^[12]

In Game 2, Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin scored the only goal of the game at the 4:02 mark in triple overtime to give Montreal the 1–0 win. Ann-Renée Desbiens recorded her first career playoff shutout, stopping all 38 Minnesota shots. Maddie Rooney made 51 saves in the loss for Minnesota. It was Minnesota's seventh straight playoff game to go to overtime, and it was the third playoff game in league history with only one goal scored.^[13]

In Game 3, Minnesota took the early lead thanks to a goal by Sidney Morin 3:22 into the first period, her second goal of the playoffs and in the entire season. Ultimately, however, the game resulted in a 2-1 Montreal win thanks to goals scored by Maggie Flaherty and Hayley Scamurra 24 seconds apart in the second period, giving the Victoire a series lead of 2-1.^[14]

In Game 4, Montreal took a late lead at 1:13 of the third period thanks to a goal by Maureen Murphy. This was answered by two goals from Minnesota's Sidney Morin. An empty netter from Kelly Pannek secured Minnesota's 3-1 win over Montreal, forcing a game 5 and continuing the Frost's 5-0 franchise record in playoff elimination games.^[15]

Game 5 was originally scheduled to be played on Monday, May 11th, at 7:00 pm. However, at 3:40 pm on May 11, the league announced that the game had been postponed until Tuesday, May 12th due to multiple illnesses on the Victoire.^[16][17] In Game 5, Montreal clinched the series with a 2–1 win thanks to Marie-Philip Poulin's game-winning goal at 3:06 in the third. It was the first time in franchise history that the Minnesota Frost had lost a game while facing elimination, having won the previous six times. Sam Cogan was the goal scorer for Minnesota, while Catherine Dubois scored the other Montreal goal.^[18]

Boston (2) vs. Ottawa (4)

Boston finished in second place in the league, earning 62 points in the standings with a record of 16-5-4-5. Ottawa finished fourth with 44 points and a record of 9-8-1-12. Ottawa beat Boston three times in the regular season, twice in a shootout, and once in overtime. Boston beat Ottawa once, in a shootout.^[10]

In Game 1, Boston took the early series lead with a 2–1 win. The game was characterized by the amount of penalties taken, with a total of 25 minutes for both teams, including 3 penalties in the first ten minutes. Jocelyne Larocque opened the scoring for Ottawa, tipping a shot from Rory Guilday at the 18 minute mark. Boston's Alina Müller scored the equalizer at 17:56 of the second, with Jamie Lee Rattray scoring the go ahead for the Fleet soon after. Her goal proved to be the decider.^[19]

In Game 2, Ottawa evened up the series at one game apiece, beating Boston 3–1. Ronja Savolainen opened up the scoring for the Charge with a wrist shot from inside the blue line with 6:44 to go in the first. Fanuza Kadirova doubled the goals for Ottawa 1:52 into the second period with a one-timer from the right circle, beating Aerin Frankel on her glove side. Megan Keller scored for Boston with just 10 seconds to go in the second. With Frankel pulled for an extra attacker, Gabbie Hughes scored on the empty net to give Ottawa the insurance marker. Gwyneth Philips made 30 saves in the winning effort.^[20]

In Game 3, Ottawa took the series lead thanks to a goal scored by Ronja Savolainen with 29 seconds left in the third period, breaking a 1–1 tie. The goal was scored when Savolainen shot the puck off the back boards, which bounced back onto Boston's goaltender Aerin Frankel's skate and into the net. The game was played in front of 13,112 fans, setting a PWHL playoff record.^[21] Fanuza Kadirova scored the other goal for Ottawa. Gwyneth Philips made 36 saves for the Charge, leading all playoff goaltenders with a 1.34 goals against average and a .958 save percentage.^[22]

Ottawa won the series in game 4, beating the Fleet 4–3 in double overtime and sending the Charge to their second straight PWHL finals. Michela Cava scored the winning goal for the Charge at the 1:12 mark in the second extra frame, redirecting a shot by Kateřina Mrázová. Ottawa scored the opening goal in the first period at the 6:38 mark when Fanuza Kadirova shot a one-timer which was tipped by Sarah Wozniewicz. Ottawa took a 2–0 lead early in the second when Brianne Jenner made a shot from behind the goal line that deflected off of Rebecca Leslie's skate and into the net. After a review, it was confirmed as a good goal. The Fleet came roaring back with three goals in just 1 minute and 33 seconds span in the second period thanks to goals by Shay Maloney, Megan Keller and Sophie Shirley. It marked the first time in 10 games where Ottawa allowed more than two goals in a game.^[23] However, Ottawa tied the game up at the 12:12 mark of the second period when Boston goalie Aerin Frankel bobbled a shot by Fanuza Kadirova, which was scooped up by Brooke Hobson to tie the game for Ottawa. The game then saw two straight score-less periods before Cava netted the winner.^[24]

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders