Highlights and Press Conferences available on Montréal and Seattle YouTube channels
SEATTLE, WA (April 25, 2026) – With high stakes on the line, the final game of the PWHL regular season needed as much time as possible, with the Montréal Victoire taking a 2-1 win in a six-round shootout over the Seattle Torrent in front of a sold-out Climate Pledge Arena crowd of 17,151. With the win, the Victoire secure first place in the PWHL standings over Boston and earn the opportunity to select their first-round opponent in the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs. With Seattle’s loss combined with Vancouver’s earlier overtime win, the Torrent finish second in the Gold Plan Draft Order standings, conceding the first overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Entry Draft to the Goldeneyes.
Both netminders put on showstopping performances to push the game to a shootout, with neither giving up an even-strength goal. Corinne Schroeder turned away 36/37 shots including six in overtime, and 2/6 shootout attempts, while Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 23/24 and 5/6 in the shootout. Montréal drew first after getting set up on the power play for Abby Roque to bury the puck from the slot above Schroeder’s blocker at 7:37 of the second period. Alex Carpenter pushed the game to overtime at 10:11 of the third frame when she fired in the rebound from Theresa Schafzahl’s power-play shot. The goal was Carpenter’s 20th point of the season making her the first player in PWHL history to reach that mark in three consecutive seasons. Roque got past Schroeder again in the first shootout attempt of the extra frame, with Hilary Knight bringing Seattle even in the third round. Lina Ljungblom played hero for Victoire fans with her first-ever shootout goal in the sixth round after Knight was denied in her second attempt.
The result comes 360 days after PWHL Seattle expansion was announced (April 30, 2025) and today’s four-game regular season finale which set a new PWHL single day attendance record of 42,887 fans. Montréal will begin its quest to become the first Canadian team to bring home the Walter Cup on Saturday, May 2, with their first-round opponent selection between the third-place Minnesota Frost and fourth-place Ottawa Charge to be announced by tomorrow night.
QUOTES
Victoire Head Coach Kori Cheverie: “Going all the way to the very end on the last day, I think it speaks to the quality of every single team in this league. I really liked the response from our group putting more shifts together in the offensive zone after that goal against. I thought there were chances for us to win all the way up until the final buzzer in regulation. But we're really happy with what we were able to come away with.”
Montréal forward Abby Roque on the game feeling like a playoff game: “It was physical, for sure. I think it was a good tune up. It was nice to have most of our lineup in, not the full thing, but we obviously got some players back, and I'm glad they got a game in before the playoffs, and they looked great, so I was really happy for them.”
Torrent defender Cayla Barnes: “It’s been amazing playing in Seattle. On behalf of our entire team, we really love playing here in front of the fans. We’ve felt the love and support from day one, night in and night out, and we really fed off that energy. We all love each other very much and we are very sad to see our season come to an end, and we hope that a lot of girls are back next year because we all had such a great time and Seattle fans blew it out of the water. We could never have imagined or dreamed of what it could be, so thank you to the fans for that – it’s been an incredible first year.”
Seattle Head Coach Steve O’Rourke’s reflections on team identity: “One of the challenges for us is that we didn’t have an identity to start...We aren’t there yet. Usually for the first 10-12 minutes, we’re still trying to get ourselves into the game. It’s stuff that we talk about and work on, but it hasn’t yet gotten there. So, we’re still building towards what we want and how we want to play. Those are pieces we are going to have to find or continue to grow internally, and things will change here.”
NOTABLES
Montréal wins the season series 8-4 in points, outscoring Seattle 11-5 in four games, but limited to just two goals (plus a shootout marker) in two games at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Victoire earned at least six points against all PWHL teams this season and became the first team in PWHL history to record a win in 11 different venues in a single season.
Montréal set a PWHL record with their 22nd win of the season, one more than Boston, with both teams earning a league-high nine wins in 16 one-goal games.
Seattle finished with points in three straight games, their longest streak of the season.
The Victoire (3-0) were undefeated in three shootouts this season, while the Torrent (1-3) won just one shootout decision.
Montréal finished the season with 27 points in 16 games played outside the province of Québec with a record of 6-4-1-5.
Seattle finished the season with 21 points in 13 home games, excluding the two Takeover Tour games in Denver and Chicago where they served as the home team, posting a record of 6-0-3-4 at Climate Pledge Arena. They were held to one or fewer goals in five of those games, including tonight.
The Torrent scored for the 30th time in the third period tonight, almost equaling the 33 goals scored in the first two periods combined.
Ann-Renée Desbiens secured her 19th win of the season to draw even with Aerin Frankel for a share of the league lead and single-season record while ending the season with three of those wins against Seattle. The Canadian Olympic goaltender allowed one or fewer goals in 17 of her 25 starts and ends the season as the league leader in GAA (1.11) and SV% (.955), both career highs.
Corinne Schroeder turned in her second-best performance of the season with her 36/37 saves and .973 save percentage only beat by the 37/38 shots she saved for a .974 SV% at Madison Square Garden on April 4. It’s the fifth time this season the Canadian netminder has faced 35 or more shots. In her last three starts at Climate Pledge Arena, Schroeder did not allow more than two goals. Her 17 starts this season rank seventh in the PWHL, ending the campaign with five wins and in the league’s top ten in GAA (2.56) and SV% (.915).
Abby Roque recorded points in every matchup against Seattle this season (2G, 3A) and ends her season tonight with a career high in goals and assists (8G, 14A) in preparation for her first ever PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs. The Michigan-native also scored her second shootout goal of the campaign, the third of her career. Roque’s 22 points on the campaign are tied with Laura Stacey for the team lead in scoring, a first for the third-year forward.
Alex Carpenter scored her third goal against the Victoire this season to become the first player in PWHL history with three consecutive 20-point seasons. It was the alternate captain’s 12th goal of the 2025-26 campaign, surpassing her career high of 11 set last season with the Sirens. The power-play marker brought Carpenter to a share of the Torrent lead in points (12G, 8A) with Julia Gosling (6G, 14A), closing out the season with 63 points in 80 career games, tied for third in the PWHL all-time. Carpenter ended the game 0-2 in the shootout, while matching her season-high with five shots and extending her single-season record in faceoff wins to 440.
Lina Ljungblom scored her first career shootout goal on her second career attempt to secure the win. The Swedish forward ends the regular season with career highs in both goals and assists (4G, 5A) in eight games fewer than her previous high of six points (3G, 3A) in 29 games last season.
Nicole Gosling’s assist tonight extended her point streak to six straight games (1G, 7A), tied with teammates Marie-Philip Poulin and Stacey, and a trio of Frost players, for the longest in the league this season, while also recording points in nine straight road games for the lone PWHL lead. The point brought her back to a tie atop the PWHL leaderboard in rookie scoring among blue liners with 19 points, while finishing third in scoring on the Victoire.
Poulin tallied an assist in her first game back in the lineup after missing 10 on the LTIR. The Victoire captain did not miss a beat, with a point in all five games she’s played since Jan. 28. Poulin ends the regular season with a two-point lead in all-time scoring with 67 career points in 70 games.
Theresa Schafzahl’s assist brought her to points in three consecutive games (4A) for the first time in her PWHL career. The Austrian winger ends the season with 15 points (4G, 11A) across 30 games in Seattle and Boston, nearly three times her career high of six points in 20 games from the inaugural season for the Fleet.
Cayla Barnes’ secondary helper on Seattle’s lone goal brought her to eight points on the campaign (3G, 5A), two points behind Anna Wilgren’s lead among Torrent defenders. The American Olympian closed out the season with five points in the final five games (2G, 3A), more than half of her total points on the 2025-26 campaign.
Hilary Knight was the lone Torrent shooter to reach the back of the net in tonight’s shootout. It was the Seattle captain’s first shootout goal of the season on four attempts and the fourth of her career on 13 tries. Her 21 minutes and 50 seconds of ice time tied with Gabrielle David for the most among forwards.
Shiann Darkangelo, Hayley Scamurra, and Kati Tabin tied for the Victoire lead in shots on goal with five apiece. That matches a season-high for Darkangelo and Tabin, while Scamurra has hit the total in consecutive games. Stacey was held without a shot on goal for the second time in three games, settling on a single-season record of 113.
Maureen Murphy returned to the Victoire lineup after missing nine games on LTIR.
Jessica DiGirolamo was scratched from the Victoire lineup, missing the first game of her three-year PWHL career.
Emily Zumwinkle made her PWHL debut in the final game of the regular season, after being activated from the team’s Reserve Player List and signing a 10-day contract on April 17.
THREE STARS
1. Lina Ljungblom (MTL) SOWG
2. Alex Carpenter (SEA) 1G
3. Corinne Shroeder (SEA) 36/37 SV
STANDINGS
Montréal: 62 PTS (16-6-2-6) – 1st Place
Seattle: 31 PTS (8-1-5-16) – 8th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Montréal: Saturday, May 2 vs. Minnesota or Ottawa (Time TBD)