NEW YORK AND TORONTO – Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight, Montréal Victoire forward Laura Stacey and Minnesota Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney have been named the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) 3 Stars of the Week presented by Shark Beauty Canada following games from Mar. 3-9.
FIRST STAR – HILARY KNIGHT, F, BOSTON FLEET
Boston’s captain collected her first career PWHL hat trick and added an assist in Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over New York at the Tsongas Center. It was Knight’s second multi-goal game in five contests after none in her first 48 PWHL outings (including playoffs); she also scored twice against the Sirens in a 4-1 Boston victory at Prudential Center Feb. 17. Though she went without a point in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Montréal at Agganis Arena, Knight helped the Fleet stretch its team-record point streak to seven games (3-2-2-0) and match their 35-point total for the 24 games of the PWHL’s inaugural season. Knight finished the week with eight shots on goal and 76 for the season – now tied for second in the league with the Victoire’s Stacey. With 11-10—21 in the 2024-25 campaign, Knight leads her team in points, is second in PWHL goals to the 14 by Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin and is tied for third in points with Minnesota’s Kendall Coyne Schofield (10-11—21) and Toronto’s Daryl Watts (6-15—21).
SECOND STAR – LAURA STACEY, F, MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE
Last week’s First Star Of The Week collected a goal in Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout victory over Minnesota at Place Bell, set up Montréal’s only goal in a 4-1 loss at Toronto Thursday and added two assists Saturday in the Victoire’s 3-2 overtime triumph over Boston at Agganis Arena. Against the Fleet, the dynamic winger set up the game-opening goal by Poulin just 3:41 into the contest and assisted on Cayla Barnes’ game-winner just 21 seconds into overtime. With 1-3—4 and 16 shots on goal for last week’s three games, Stacey stretched her scoring streak to six games, over which she has accounted for 4-5—9, 29 shots and a plus-6 rating. With 8-8—16 for the season, Stacey ranks second in points on the Victoire to the 14-5—19 amassed by Poulin, while her assist total is fourth on the team to the 11 by Erin Ambrose and Jennifer Gardiner and the nine by Barnes.
THIRD STAR – MADDIE ROONEY, G, MINNESOTA FROST
Rooney allowed only one goal in regulation time during her two appearances last week. In a 2-1 shootout loss to Montreal at Place Bell, Rooney was beaten only by a Stacey shot 17 seconds into the middle period and a Poulin solo in the shootout. She rebounded in her next outing, Friday against Ottawa, stopping all 19 Charge shots in a 5-0 shutout before 10,782 in a Takeover Tour contest at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. That triumph helped the Frost avenge an 8-3 loss to Ottawa in the team’s previous meeting and gave Minnesota the distinction of having participated in the three PWHL games ever decided by five goals; the New York Sirens recorded a 5-0 triumph over the Frost Jan. 4. The shutout in Raleigh was Rooney’s second blank of the season and made her the first goalie to record multiple shutouts in each of the league’s first two campaigns. She has six performances of one goal-against or less this season, tied with Toronto’s Kristen Campbell and second only to the seven by Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens.
The ‘3 Stars of the Week’ are announced each Monday throughout the regular season and playoffs, encompassing games from the previous Monday through Sunday. Points will be awarded to each selection and will help determine rankings at the end of the year.
