By Abbi Holt (ed. Laura Everett)

It’s no secret that a lot is on the line in this weekend’s scheduled games between the Boston Pride and the Toronto Six in Toronto. Both teams have qualified for the semi-finals and have home ice advantage, but these last few games will decide which team they face in their best-of-three, semi-final series: the Connecticut Whale or the Minnesota Whitecaps. These two teams could also, very easily, face each other again in two weeks in the PHF final. Everyone on and off the ice will be trying to figure out what can be learned from this weekend.

The two teams seem very evenly matched and split their last series. The lead scorers for both the Pride and the Six, Loren Gabel and Brittany Howard, have both led the league in goals scored at different points this season and goalie Corinne Schroeder of the Pride holds the number one slot for saves with Elaine Chuli of the Six right behind her.

Whether they win or lose these games could potentially make a real difference for the Pride’s chances of making it to the final in Tempe Arizona. The Pride’s record vs. the Whitecaps is now 4-0 and their record vs. the Whale is 3-1. The Pride are 18-3-1 (51 pts) and the Six are 16-4-2 (48 pts), which means that the Pride can claim first place in the standings and a series against the weaker Whitecaps even if they only win one game in regulation. The Six can only claim first place if they win one game and at least win the other in overtime.

Whatever happens, the Pride will play a best of three series for the semis at the Bentley Arena in Waltham Thursday 3/16 at 7pm, Saturday 3/18 at 8pm and Sunday 3/19 at 7pm if needed. Tickets are on sale here and our game-day guide can be found here. The final will be 3/26 9pm ET in Arizona at Mullett Arena, home of the Arizona Coyotes. It will be the first official PHF game on NHL ice! Tickets go on sale beginning Monday 3/13.

This weekend’s games against the Six are Saturday at 2 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. If you can make it to Toronto, getting tickets is a little more complex than usual. The PHF uses a universitytickets.com, a major ticket vendor used primarily by colleges and universities, but this vendor has been suffering a nationwide outage so they have moved the ticket purchasing to Eventbrite. The games can also still be streamed on ESPN+ (see the “watch live” links at the bottom of this page next to their respective games).