Golden at Home: Where the Vancouver Goldeneyes Stand After Five Games

The first five games of the season haven't gone exactly to plan for Goldeneyes players and fans alike. With one of the strongest rosters coming out of the draft and expansion, many PWHL fans (myself included) expected to see the Goldeneyes find success early in the 2025-26 season. That has not come to be. Instead, the team lost three straight games on the road after a come-from-behind win in the first game. Before Saturday's second home game and the team's fifth game of the season, the Goldeneyes had not yet led in any game.

Now, after five games and heading into the international break, it's time to figure out just what's been going on.

The Good

Let's start with the things that have been going well throughout the first five games.

Home ice performance

From start to finish, hitting the ice at the Pacific Coliseum has done the Goldeneyes well. The home opener, which saw nearly 14,000 fans pack the building to cheer on the brand-new team, ended with a thrilling overtime winning goal (and celebration) by Abby Boreen. And although the team was playing from behind, they believed they could come back each time, and they did.

"The message was, don't panic," game-winning goal scorer Abby Boreen said in the post-game press conference, "We're fine. Just keep going out there shift by shift. Good things happen when we work hard."

The sentiment was echoed by head coach Brian Idalski, "I know that we have a talented group, so playing from behind is not going to be a huge thing. This group has talent, has ability, you know—we should be able to put the puck in the net, so there was no reason to panic."

While that didn't really show on a long and difficult road trip, the Goldeneyes were back to full form in their fifth game of the season, suiting up again in front of a home crowd. Just four minutes into the game, Abby Boreen scored her second goal of the season, giving the Goldeneyes their first lead of the season. And they didn't look back, putting three more pucks past Kayle Osbourne to beat the New York Sirens 4-0.

What changed after a few losses on the road? "Well, first and foremost, being back at home, obviously," Coach Idalski said after the game, "The energy, everything back here, a little more structured for us, and that had a lot to do with it."

Having scored all of her team-leading three goals on home ice, Abby Boreen said, "You know, having the whole city behind you is, you know, super super fun. But today, we knew we had to turn it around, and we did just that. It was great to be home, and we're comfortable, and scoring first is always a good step forward."

The good news is that the Goldeneyes get two more home games to build on this energy before the new year.

Goaltending

Coming into this season, the Goldeneyes had arguably one of the best goaltending duos in the league. With 17 international medals between them, one PWHL Goaltender of the Year award, and two full seasons each as starting goaltenders in the PWHL, the Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell duo is unmatched in the league.

And so far, they've proven exactly why they are two of the best goaltenders in the world. Only Gwyneth Philips has faced more shots this season than Emerance Maschmeyer, who's been in the net for four of the team's five games. A lack of support out front has left both of their stats a little bit worse for wear, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Maschmeyer, especially, has been instrumental in keeping games within reach, making key saves when she needs. Plus, she earned the team's first shutout on Saturday at home, stopping all 28 pucks she faced.

Possibly most impressive in Saturday's game were the not one but two paddle saves she made on the same play against one of the best players in the world, Sarah Fillier.

Not only was it a beautiful save, but it was also a game-changing one.

"That was a huge, huge moment to keep that where the score was and us to play at that pace. If that goes in, it's an entirely different game... We get another one right after that, and you know, then we're in great shape," Coach Idalski said after the game.

And for her teammates, having Maschmeyer makes the game easier for them, too.

"When you have such a brick wall back there, you can play with such ease and confidence, knowing that she has our backs," Abby Boreen said after Saturday's game, "When you have that, you tend to win in this league."

If the team can get things figured out in front of her, they may just be unstoppable.

Secondary Scoring

With Sarah Nurse out on injury after scoring just once in the home opener, it hasn't necessarily been the first line players putting the puck in the net. Of the ten goals the team has scored, four of them are from defenders—Claire Thompson with two and Ashton Bell and Sophie Jaques with one each. Gabby Rosenthal also has a goal, already tying her total for last season. And Abby Boreen, who often plays on the second or third line, leads the team with three goals.

While it would be great to get players like Michelle Karvinen, Hannah Miller, and Michela Cava on the score sheet, it's reassuring to see that the team doesn't need to rely only on those star players.

The Bad

But, if all was going to plan, the Goldeneyes would not be sitting fifth in the standings with a 1-1-0-3 record. The reality is that this team is brand new, and sometimes, they look like it.

Chemistry doesn't come easily

While there is an argument to be made that the original six teams would struggle with chemistry with the loss of expansion players and the influx of draft picks, it's clear that Seattle and Vancouver are finding it the most difficult to get things flowing.

"Everyone's just coming from different teams. They just came out of college, you know, played different places. So, we're really just trying to, you know, gel and really get our structure down," Goldeneyes forward Jenn Gardiner said after Saturday's game.

These are things that come with time. While on the three game road trip, captain Ashton Bell said that while it's tiring, a road trip is great for building chemistry: "I feel this trip is super beneficial for a group, just being a new team and not having played together the last two seasons. I think we can definitely take advantage of this time on the road and use it to ... build team chemistry within our lines and just off the ice, as well as just getting to know each other well."

That the team is already learning to play better together was evident in Saturday's game, specifically on Abby Boreen's first goal of the night, which came off of a great pass from Tereza Vanišová. Boreen explained the new confidence between the two linemates.

"It's kind of funny because we're roommates," she said with a laugh. "We're polar opposite people but we get along so well. We're constantly learning together and we've watched film together, and just different things that we can do on the ice to make our line go."

With the team heading to a 10-day break, chemistry and systems building will be two big focuses in practice.

Systems need to be built

Even after an overtime win in the first game of the season, it was evident that plays and systems needed to built and strengthened. In his post-game press conference, Coach Idalski joked that they'd given up more odd-man rushes in the one game than his teams ever had in a month or two in a college hockey season.

Heading out on a long road trip immediately after didn't help. Limited practice meant a lack of time to clean up any mistakes. Defensive zone systems faltered in the three games on the road, leaning to turnovers and scoring chances. An inability to breakout cleanly left forwards flying the zone early, trapping the defenders and leaving the opposing team open for scoring plays. And when they did manage to get into the offensive zone, the opposing team held them to very few shots and scoring chances.

Opposing teams were able to stifle the speed and physicality of the Goldeneyes, making them look much weaker than a roster with so much talent should.

In relief to fans and players alike, things started to click more on Saturday, and that showed on the scoreboard. A shutout and 2o shots on Osbourne—four of which found the back of the net—all showed that things are coming together.

"We've improved a lot as far as breakouts, our exits, playing with a little more pace, coming up the ice with possession, and when we do that, we're a pretty good team," Brian Idalski said after Saturday's game, "So, still some things to work out, but overall, we keep getting better, so that's a good sign."

Injuries

Something that is completely out of the team's control but has shown more on the ice than many people expected is Sarah Nurse's injury. The Goldeneyes' alternate captain has missed four games this season with an upper body injury, and was placed on the LTIR. While Nurse is a great player and great teammate, it was almost surprising to see how much the team flailed without her.

Coach Idalski was also surprised. When asked about how much the team misses her on the ice, he answered, "Oh my goodness, just the energy she has, the aura she has, it's very calming on the ice, she's super responsible. Her hockey IQ is off the charts, yeah we missed that a lot, more than I really thought we would, especially off the start here."

The Goldeneyes are also without third-round pick Nina Jobst-Smith on defense. After retaining zero new defenders from camp, the team opted to play Madison Samoskevich, who played both forward and defense in college, into Jobst-Smith's spot, and bring in reserve played Darcie Lappan on forward. Jobst-Smith was placed on LTIR when the season started, so the Goldenyes have yet to see what she can bring on the ice. She is a talented defender at both the NCAA and international level, so it's expected that she'll be a boost when she is able to join the team. Her return will also give them a chance to move Samoskevich back to centre, where she found success in training camp and at Quinnipiac.

So, what's next?

The international break could not come at a better time for the Goldeneyes, who are in dire need of some practices and sleeping in their own beds. Both the players and the coach said they were looking forward to getting a good few practices under their belts, even without some of the team's top players, who are headed to the Rivalry Series or the women's Euro Cup of Hockey.

The Goldeneyes will then play twice more at home before Christmas, which, when you're 2-0 at home, that sounds like a pretty great way to get back to .500.

The truth is, Goldeneyes fans, it's probably not time to panic ... yet.