Around the PWHL, Toronto keeps winning, while former Premier Hockey Federation MVP Mikyla Grant-Mentis gets a fresh start in Montreal.PWHL Ottawa moved into the fourth and final playoff spot with a regulation win over New York on Wednesday. Looking at his roster after 17 games and sitting one point out of the playoff picture, PWHL Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld felt like his team was close to firing on all cylinders.
Hirshfeld was the most active GM on trade deadline day, acquiring a top-six forward in Tereza Vanišová and a bottom-six veteran centre in Shiann Darkangelo. They're players Hirshfeld feels could put his team over the edge in the close games that haven't been going Ottawa's way. The goal was overturned after it became apparent the puck went under the net. But it's a moment Grant-Mentis won't soon forget.
Mikyla Grant-Mentis was added to Montreal as a reserve player earlier this month, and signed a 10-day contract last week. Grant-Mentis played 11 minutes, 15 seconds in her debut with Montreal on Sunday. One has to think having Grant-Mentis and reserve player Mélodie Daoust in the fold made it a bit easier to let go of Vanišová in the trade with Ottawa.
Grant-Mentis said she didn't think she was able to show her full potential in the time she was in Ottawa. "Not necessarily a mindset shift, but it was a little bit more focus on execution, the little things that were going to make us successful," Nurse said.