On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the New York Sirens traveled up to Canada to take on the Toronto Sceptres. This was the two teams’ second matchup of the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. In this game, the Sirens had complete control, shutting out the Sceptres 2-0.
Kaltounkova the Only Goal Scorer
First-overall draft pick Kristyna Kaltounkova has been off to a strong start in her first PWHL season, but she continued to prove it last night. She was the only player to score any goals in this game.
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Her first goal was scored in the second period. Casey O’Brien tried to make a play from in front of the net, but Elaine Chuli made the initial save. The loose puck made its way to Jincy Roese at the blue line. She took a shot, and Kaltounkova was in front of the net and tipped the puck in to open the scoring.
Just a minute after her goal, the Sirens were awarded a penalty shot. Kaltounkova took the shot for the Sirens, but unfortunately, it went wide, so she wasn’t able to capitalize on this chance.
With just seconds left in the game, the Sceptres tried their hardest to make a play. The puck was sent around the boards, but Kaltounkova powered through and picked up the loose puck before any Toronto player could get their stick on it. She fired it towards the empty net and hit her target, giving the Sirens a 2-0 win.
Due to her two goals in this game, Kaltounkova now sits in second place in the league with the most goals scored. She sits just under Kendall Coyne-Schofield of the Minnesota Frost, who has eight goals; Kaltounkova has seven. Last season, then-rookie Sarah Fillier tied Hilary Knight with total points at 29. Could we see a repeat of this success with the Sirens’ 2025 first-overall pick?
Osborne Records Third Shutout of the Season
The Sirens have played 11 of their 30 games this season, and Kayle Osborne has been the netminder in all of them. Last night, Osborne once again demonstrated why head coach Greg Fargo believes in her so much.
Toronto took 31 shots on net last night, and Osborne stopped them all, recording her third shutout of the season and the fourth of her career. Corinne Schroeder set the PWHL record for the number of shutouts recorded in a single season last season with four; Osborne is already getting very close to breaking that.
When asked about Osborne, Fargo stated, “Kayle not only is a great puck stopper, to me she’s the best goalie that can play the puck in the world. I think it makes a big difference for us in a lot of ways. She’s been incredible.”
Fargo clearly believes in Osborne’s ability, as he should. At the same time, he doesn’t want to overplay her to the point where she is exhausted and can’t perform to the best of her ability. Luckily, the PWHL season is not nearly as extensive as the 82-game NHL schedule, but the Sirens should still avoid risking Osborne getting exhausted or, worse, injured.
Sirens Towards the Top of the Standings
After a four-game losing streak at the beginning of December, the Sirens were in a bad spot in the overall standings. They were towards the bottom of the leaderboard, clearly out of a playoff spot. They have since course-corrected this and are on a four-game winning streak. With this streak, they now sit just under the Boston Fleet in second place in the PWHL.
The 3-2-1 points system means that it is truly anyone’s game at any point. There is still a lot of the season left to be played, but the fact that the Sirens are currently in a playoff spot is a great thing. They are the only original six PWHL team that has not made the postseason in these first two seasons. If they can continue on this hot streak and, when May comes around, hit the playoffs for the first time, the Sirens will prove to everyone that they shouldn’t count out this incredible New York team.
Sirens Head Back Home
The Sirens will head back to the Prudential Center to host the Minnesota Frost on Friday, Jan. 16. With nine days of rest between these two games, the Sirens will have a good chance to try and get their fifth straight win.
