3 Takeaways From Sirens’ 5-1 Loss to the Charge – The Hockey Writers – New York Sirens

On Saturday, April 18, the New York Sirens played the Ottawa Charge for the two teams’ final meetup of the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. Heading into this game, the Sirens won two of the matchups, while the Charge won one in overtime. 

The Sirens scored a power-play goal to get on the board first, but the Charge scored a late goal in the first period to tie the game. Two jailbreak goals for the Charge gave them a two-goal lead heading into the final frame. A full-strength goal and a power-play goal in the third period earned the Charge the 5-1 win over the Sirens. 

Sirens Struck First 

Halfway into the first period, the Charge took a penalty for delay of game. Stephanie Markowski took a seat to give the Sirens the first power-play chance of the game, and they converted. Maja Nylen Persson dished a pass to Paetyn Levis, who was in front of the net. She sent the puck into the net to put the Sirens on the board first. 

This milestone was significant for Levis: it was her fifth goal of the season and her first on the power play. Surpassing last season’s total of four, she also set a new career high in points, now sitting at 10. These achievements mark a step forward in her performance. 

Levis has been with New York since the beginning, but she has really stepped into her own this season. The way she converted on the power play and has been finding her scoring edge has set her up for success in her third PWHL season. 

Sirens’ Power Play Struggled

Despite the Sirens finding success on their first power-play chance of the game, that is where their luck ran out. They allowed the Charge not one, but two jailbreak goals. The Sirens had five power-play opportunities in the entire game, and three of them were in the second period. Instead of taking advantage of having the extra player on the ice, they allowed Ottawa to score two goals shorthanded. 

Surprisingly enough, the Sirens’ power play is not the worst in the league. It currently sits at fifth overall with a 13.8% success rate. At the same time, they have allowed the most shorthanded goals this season out of any other team, with four. On the penalty kill, the Sirens are in dead last at 79.1%. 

Even though the Sirens have allowed the most shorthanded goals of any other team, they are tied with Ottawa for the most scored in the season; both teams have three. It was this poor performance with special teams that contributed to New York’s downfall in this game. 

Sirens’ Postseason Hopes Are Further Out of Reach 

If the Sirens won this game in regulation, they would have hopped over the Charge in the playoff standings and been sitting pretty in fourth place. Unfortunately, that’s not how this game panned out. The Charge are now in a commanding lead for the final postseason spot with 39 points. The Sirens have 34, tied with the Toronto Sceptres. 

The Sirens still have two more games to play, one against the Sceptres, and their final game is against the Boston Fleet. In the event the Sceptres lose their final three games and the Charge lose their final two games, the Sirens will make the playoffs. 

Unfortunately, it seems more than likely that the Sirens will soon be competing for gold plan points in the hopes of securing a strong draft pick. New York did its best this season, but the fact that it has lost its last eight straight road games has not helped its case. Let’s hope the Sirens can at least close out their third PWHL season on a strong note. 

Sirens Head to Toronto 

The Sirens will play their next game on Tuesday, April 21, against the Sceptres.