Sunday, January 5, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. PT | Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, WA)
WATCH LIVE: NESN+, TSN 5, TSN.ca, TSN App, RDS Info, PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International)
EN: Jamie Hersch (Play-by-Play), Becky Kellar (Analyst), Shantelle Chand (Reporter);
FR: Claudine Douville (Play-by-Play), Isabelle Leclaire (Analyst), Andrée-Anne Barbeau (Studio Host), Karell Émard (Studio Analyst).
MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE
3-2-0-1 | 13 PTS | 2ND PLACE
Top Scorers: A. Boreen (2G, 2A) & C. Dalton (1G, 3A)
Last Game: 3-1 W vs. BOS on Dec. 30
BOSTON FLEET
2-0-1-4 | 7 PTS | 5TH PLACE (TIED)
Top Scorer: Hilary Knight – 7 GP, 4-3-7 PTS
Last Game: 4-3 OTL at MIN on Jan. 2
2024-25 SEASON SERIES: MONTRÉAL LEADS 3-0 IN POINTS (TIED 6-6 IN 2024)
Dec. 30 at MTL: 3-1 MTL | Jan. 5 at BOS (SEATTLE) | Mar. 1 at MTL | Mar. 8 at BOS | Mar. 18 at BOS | Apr. 28 at MTL
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Seattle is the first of nine stops on the PWHL Takeover Tour this season and Climate Pledge Arena will become the ninth NHL venue to host a PWHL game all-time.
Climate Pledge Arena hosted the Rivalry Series on Nov. 20, 2022, with 13 players from today’s teams. Boston’s Hilary Knight had three points (2G, 1A) for the United States in the 4-2 win. Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin scored for Canada, assisted by Jamie Lee Rattray (BOS). Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) made 25 saves. Team USA also had Boston’s Hannah Brandt, Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, and Montréal’s Clair DeGeorge and Maureen Murphy. Boston’s Loren Gabel and Montréal’s Erin Ambrose, Kristin O’Neill and Laura Stacey played for Canada. A crowd of 14,551 set an attendance record for a U.S. women's national team home game.
The Victoire are playing for the first time in 2025 with their last game being a 3-1 win over Boston. It’s the second time in team history that Montréal has played consecutive games against the same opponent. They split a two-game set with Minnesota Mar. 24 & Apr. 18 surrounding the 2024 World Championship.
Montréal has three regulation wins and one OT victory in their last four games. It is the longest winning streak in team history.
Claire Dalton had a goal and an assist in the win over Boston, her second career multi-point PWHL game (3G on Feb. 24 vs. Ottawa). Dalton has a two-game point streak for the third time in her career, but she has never had a three-game streak.
Last season in neutral site games, Boston beat Ottawa 2-1 in a shootout in Detroit on Mar. 16, and Montréal fell 2-1 to Toronto in Pittsburgh on Mar. 17.
Boston overcame two different two-goal third-period deficits against Minnesota in its OT loss Thursday. The Fleet’s three goals were their most in any period since scoring three in the second period of Game 1 of the PWHL Finals and their most in a third period since three last Valentine’s Day against Toronto.
Susanna Tapani scored twice in 49 seconds of the third period Thursday, setting a record for the fastest 2G by a single player in PWHL history. She follows teammate Keller as the ninth player in the league this season with a multi-goal game, and the fourth skater to score 2G in a period this season.
Boston has lost three straight games and have just one point in their four games away from home this season. The team’s worst stretch of the inaugural season was four straight losses (0-0-2-2 from Feb. 4-19).
Kelly Babstock (BOS) and Catherine Dubois (MTL) are both serving one-game suspensions and will miss today’s game.
The teams have been exploring Seattle, including the iconic Space Needle and Pike Place Fish Market. At Saturday’s Kraken game, Frankel and rookie Hannah Bilka did a jersey swap with Massachusetts natives Matty Beniers and Joey Daccord, and Poulin read the starting lineup in the Kraken dressing room.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“We have a great opportunity as we are the only team to play in every game of this west coast trip. For us, this is a business trip. We will be solicited to participate in many events during this trip, and our mentality will be to win everything we do, from practice to a community event. Our mentality is to win every single day.” - Victoire Head Coach Kori Cheverie.
“I think it's important to be a tight knit group off the ice and that's how you perform well on the ice. We're getting super close, learning the new personalities, and we have great people. First and foremost, everyone cares about the person next to them. Our identity is working for that person next to you and if we do that, we'll hopefully get a good outcome here.” – Fleet forward Lexie Adzija.
SUNDAY’S GAME: The PWHL is proud to welcome Jessica Campbell from the Seattle Kraken for the ceremonial puck drop. Campbell made history with the Kraken this season becoming the first woman to be named a full-time NHL assistant coach. National Anthems will be performed by Kraken in-game host Angelica Salem. Guest DJ is DJ Pretty Please. The U8 Jr. Kraken will hit the ice in the first intermission, with goaltenders wearing custom pads representing the Fleet and Victoire, hand crafted by Kraken Youth Hockey Association Goalie Coach, Julia Takatsuka. Jocks in Jills hosts Tessa Bonhomme and Julia Tocheri will record a live podcast pre-game in-arena. Seattle native Katie Glover is one of today’s referees. The PWHL has partnered with local nonprofits, Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA) and Skate Like A Girl, to give young athletes the chance to attend the game.