VANCOUVER, BC (January 8, 2025) - The Montréal Victoire came out on top in the second game of the PWHL Takeover Tour ™ with a 4-2 win over the Toronto Sceptres in front of a season-high 19,038 fans at a sold-out Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The Victoire opened the game with first period goals from Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Claire Dalton, while captain Marie-Philip Poulin added a second period highlight-reel tally to give her team a three-goal lead by midway through the second period. Daryl Watts opened the scoring for the Sceptres with a power play goal less than a minute after Poulin’s tally to cut Toronto’s deficit to 3-1 after two periods. A third period marker from Jesse Compher brought the Sceptres to within one as they continued to apply pressure in an attempt to complete the comeback. However, their efforts were snuffed following an empty net goal from Poulin – her second of the game – to secure a 4-2 win for Montréal. Kristen Campbell stopped 21 of 24 shots faced in her fifth start of the season for the Sceptres–– and first since Dec. 18. Meanwhile, Ann-Renée Desbiens turned aside 29 of 31 shots, picking up her fourth win this season between the pipes for the Victoire.
QUOTES
Toronto forward Sarah Nurse on growing the game but making sure competition is top-of-mind: “It’s a healthy balance because I think growing the game, leaving a footprint, doing the community outreach – that's so integral to who we are and what we’ve been doing for our entire careers, so that’s just something that's so normal for us. And then when you think of a game like this, obviously it's not a pre-season, it’s not an exhibition game – these are three points that are very meaningful, and I think that we’ve done a great job of being professionals and rising to the occasion. I know today that unfortunately we didn't win, which is tough and it’s disappointing, but I was very proud of how the team stuck to the game plan. We started executing and that’s the hardest thing about this league – it's hard to win. But I believe that by us continuing to stick together and stick with what we’re focusing on we’re going to have some success.”
Toronto head coach Troy Ryan on Toronto’s play: “Thought we looked good in the [offensive] zone, and obviously––without scoring a bunch of goals but spread things out–– got a lot of good quality chances. It’s sort of a story of how a lot of our games have gone. You know when you get down in this league, it's tough to chase the game and we’ve been chasing it a lot. We need to have that start, that push back right from the opening puck drop and I think we’re going to be successful.”
Marie-Philip Poulin on the game experience: "We came here for a win, and we showed it from the puck drop. It was very exciting to jump on that ice in the warmup. Obviously seeing Jenn (Gardiner) fired up, I think for us as a team, it's always exciting, and for me coming back here to Vancouver, there are special memories for sure, and this is another one tonight. To be able to play in front of a sold-out crowd in this new league, representing Montréal, there is no better feeling, and we are happy with it."
BC native Jennifer Gardiner on playing in her hometown: "There aren't really words to describe this experience. Coming to the West coast in general, let alone playing in Vancouver in my hometown is so surreal. Just doing it with this team is so special. I was looking around at the crowd, and to see the number of all the little girls out there that have dreamed of playing in a professional women's hockey league their whole life and will get to do it one day is so special. I am very excited for the future of women's hockey out here."
NOTABLES
The crowd of 19,038 is the highest attendance figure of the 2024-25 PWHL season and is the third-largest single-game crowd in the league’s history. The figure is also the largest for a PWHL neutral site game.
Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals in the game, her first points at Rogers Arena since the 2010 Olympic gold medal game, where she famously scored both goals for Canada in a 2-0 win over the U.S. The Victoire captain now leads the team in goals with four and is tied for the lead in points with five.
Mikyla Grant-Mentis recorded 1G, 1A in the game for her first multi-point performance of the season and the third of her career. She now co-leads the Victoire in points with five on the season, alongside Claire Dalton (2G, 3A), who scored her second goal of the season in this game, Poulin (4G, 1A) and Abby Boreen (3G, 2A).
The Victoire have now won six of their first eight games of the season, including five of their last six matchups.
Renata Fast recorded two assists for the Sceptres in the game and leads the team in points with eight. She now sits second in the league in assists (8) and is tied for second in points among defenders.
Jesse Compher had the first multi-point game of her career with 1G, 1A. With five points on the season, the Sceptres forward matched her regular season point total from last year, where she played in 24 games.
Anna Wilgren earned her first assist of her PWHL career on the Victoire’s first goal. She is now tied for fourth in the PWHL for most points among rookie defenders with two.
Erin Ambrose has recorded assists in back-to-back games for the Victoire.
Alexandra Labelle earned her second assist and third point of the season with a helper on the Dalton goal, matching her point total from last season where she scored 1G, 2A through 24 regular-season games with New York.
Daryl Watts’ goal was Toronto’s fifth power play goal this season. Toronto is now tied with Minnesota for the second-most power play goals in the league, behind Boston and New York’s seven.
Toronto’s Hayley Scamurra led all players with five shots on a goal, a season-high for the forward. Laura Stacey was first among Victoire skaters with four shots on goal. She leads the league with 34 shots on goal.
Fast (TOR) led all players in ice-time, logging 29:02. Cayla Barnes logged 22:35, the most amongst all Montréal skaters.
The Victoire lead the PWHL in fewest goals against with 19 through eight games.
The Sceptres have now outshot their opponents in three consecutive games.
Montréal has opened the scoring in four of their first eight games and have a record of 3-0-1-0 when hitting the scoresheet first.
Montréal has recorded at least one first-period goal in each of their last four games after failing to score in the first frame through the first four games. Six of the Victoire’s 12 goals in their last four games have come in the first period.
Montréal and Toronto wore specialty jerseys tonight in partnership with Molson. The jerseys feature the player’s name bar at the bottom, with the Molson logo placed where the regular name bar would be often covered by some players’ long hair. The jerseys will be worn in five other games across Canada this season.
Montréal’s next game will also be part of the PWHL Takeover Tour™ in Denver on Sunday, Jan. 12 against Minnesota. They will also play against Ottawa in Quebec City on Jan. 19. Later this season, Toronto will play against Ottawa as part of the Takeover Tour™ in Edmonton on Feb. 16.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Montréal 1 2 1 - 4
Toronto 0 1 1 - 2
1st Period-1, Montréal, Grant-Mentis 2 (Wilgren), 4:53. Penalties-Greig Mtl (tripping), 9:42; Compher Tor (tripping), 17:14.
2nd Period-2, Montréal, Dalton 2 (Grant-Mentis, Labelle), 2:26. 3, Montréal, Poulin 3 (Ambrose), 7:48. 4, Toronto, Watts 2 (Fast, Compher), 8:29 (PP). Penalties-Keopple Mtl (tripping), 8:06; Neubauerová Tor (tripping), 11:29.
3rd Period-5, Toronto, Compher 3 (Maltais, Fast), 6:53. 6, Montréal, Poulin 4 19:09 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Montréal 9-5-11-25. Toronto 6-12-13-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Montréal 0 / 2; Toronto 1 / 2.
Goalies-Montréal, Desbiens 4-1-0-1 (31 shots-29 saves). Toronto, Campbell 1-4-0-0 (24 shots-21 saves).
Attendance-19,038
THREE STARS
Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) 2G
Mikyla Grant-Mentis (MTL) 1G, 1A
Jesse Compher (TOR) 1G, 1A
STANDINGS
Montréal (4-2-1-1) – 17 PTS – 1st Place
Toronto (2-0-1-5) – 7 PTS – 6th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Toronto: Sunday, January 12 at New York
Montréal: Sunday, January 12 at Minnesota – Denver, CO