On Saturday, April 4, the New York Sirens hosted the Seattle Torrent at Madison Square Garden. This was the first professional women’s hockey game held at the Garden, and it was an incredible sold-out game; 18,006 fans packed the stands to see the two teams square off for the fourth and final time in the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season.
Despite a game misconduct and a five-minute major in the first period, there was no change in the score. The Sirens had to kill off the remainder of the major penalty to kick off the second period, and they did. However, the Torrent scored first shortly after. The Sirens got on the board with just three minutes remaining in regulation, forcing the game to go into overtime.
After five minutes of three-on-three, there was still no change in score, and the two teams headed to a shootout. The Sirens struck first in the first round, but the Torrent quickly evened it up with a successful goal in the second round. Another successful goal in the fourth round gave New York the lead, and since the Torrent couldn’t score in the fifth round, the Sirens exited MSG with a 2-1 shootout victory.
Fillier Tied the Game
Time was dwindling in regulation time, and the Sirens were making a push to even the score. Casey O’Brien had the puck in the Sirens’ zone and was searching for a shooting lane. She passed the puck up the boards for Anne Cherkowski. She skated it towards the net and passed it to Sarah Fillier, who had an open lane on the other side. She lifted the puck into the net to tie the game with three and a half minutes remaining.
With this goal, Fillier now has four goals in her last two games. She currently has 20 points for the season, with nine goals and 11 assists, leading the team in points. In her sophomore season, Fillier had a slow start, but her offense has exploded in the past few games. The absence of Kristyna Kaltounkova, the Sirens’ leading goal scorer, and Taylor Girard has been a huge hit to the Sirens in the back half of this season, but Fillier has picked up the pace and really filled the gaps.
Sirens Kept Special Teams Strong
The Sirens faced some hardships in this game, including two minor penalties, and Emmy Fecteau being assessed a five-minute major for an illegal check to the head and a game misconduct, so she only played 1:29. Despite being down a player for a full five minutes, three minutes in the first period and the remaining two minutes and change in the second, the Sirens killed off the penalty successfully.
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The Sirens have the worst penalty kill in the league, ranking eighth with a 79.7% success rate. The Torrent have the fourth-best power-play success rate, at 15.2%. The fact that New York was able to keep the Torrent at bay during a major penalty and another minor penalty allowed them to stay in the game.
Sirens Made History
The PWHL has set major attendance records throughout the course of the season, but it was broken once again at MSG. With a crowd of 18,006 fans packing the stands, this sold-out crowd now holds the record for the largest attendance for a professional women’s hockey game.
New York is constantly criticized for having the worst attendance in the league, yet thousands of fans wore Sirens merchandise and watched the team take down the Torrent. The entire building was electric, proving the Sirens’ slogan “full-volume hockey” to ring true. Sirens fans showed out and showed up for their team.
Sirens Head Back on the Road
After a monumental and historic game, the Sirens are heading back on the road. They will have a week-long break and then take on the Minnesota Frost on Saturday, April 11.
