On Friday, Jan. 2, the New York Sirens hosted the Montreal Victoire for their second game of the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. Emotions ran high in this game, as two former players, Jade Downie-Landry and Abby Roque, made their return to the Prudential Center after some offseason trades.
Despite the emotion, the game was a heavy back-and-forth matchup. The Victoire struck first, but the Sirens countered with a goal of their own in the first period. The Sirens took an early lead in the second, but the Victoire tied it up with a power-play goal shortly after. New York managed to get back into the lead in the middle of the second period and, with a goal in the third, increased it. The Victoire made a last-ditch effort to try and win in the final seconds, but it was not enough, and the Sirens took home a 4-3 victory.
Sirens Rookies Stole the Show
The Victoire might have struck first with a goal from Laura Stacey, but later in the first period, it was Anne Cherkowski who stole the puck in the Victoire’s zone. She skated up to the net with Anna Bargman at her wing. The two skated up to the net, and Cherkowski passed the puck to Bargman. She had a mini spin move and sent it past Sandra Abstreiter for the first goal of the game and her first PWHL goal.
Early into the second period, Maddi Wheeler skated the puck along the boards, passing it to Kristin O’Neill in the center of the ice. She immediately took a shot for the Sirens’ first lead of the game.
Later in the same period, the Victoire tied the game, and the Sirens were making an effort to gain their lead back. Casey O’Brien was in the same spot as Wheeler and dished a pass to Kristyna Kaltounkova in the faceoff dot. Her shot went from left to right and flew past Abstreiter, into the back of the net.
Although Paetyn Levis scored with the help of Sarah Fillier and Jaime Bourbonnais in the third period to win the game, the majority of the goals were scored by or assisted by rookies. The only veteran in the mix for the Sirens’ first three goals was O’Neill.
The Sirens had the largest 2025 draft class out of the eight PWHL teams, after New York traded Roque and defender Ella Shelton for more picks in the middle of the 2025 Draft. The Sirens have built a young team with the majority of their players being rookies; it looks like it’s beginning to pan out for them.
Sirens Are on a Three-Game Win Streak
The Sirens continue to prove that with the 3-2-1 system, anything can happen. Before they won their last three games, they were at the bottom of the PWHL standings. Now, with the last three games behind them, they have leapfrogged into third place overall.
Related: 4 Different Goal Scorers Lead Sirens to 4-3 Win Over Victoire
The Sirens just played their 10th game of the season, so they are a third of the way through the 2025-26 season. This is the same spot they were at last season, before they went on a nine-game losing streak, the longest of any PWHL team.
The Sirens kicked off the season with an unfortunate four-game losing streak, but they are finally back on the right path. As the only original six team not to make the playoffs yet, this would be a historic season for the Sirens. Of course, we are only one full month into the season, but things are looking up at the moment.
Sirens Hit the Road
The Sirens will travel up to Canada to take on the Toronto Sceptres on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
