LAVAL, QC (December 30, 2024) – The Montréal Victoire ended the year on a positive note, beating the Boston Fleet at Place Bell following a 3-1 win in front of a capacity crowd of 10,172 on Monday night. The win was Montréal’s first regulation victory of the season on home ice and moved the team ahead of Minnesota for first place in the PWHL standings. Claire Dalton scored her first goal of the season and added an assist, while Kristin O’Neill scored the game-winning-goal, a shorthanded ‘Jailbreak’ goal at the end of the second period of the highly physical contest. Victoire rookie Anna Wilgren scored her first career goal, and Fleet captain Hilary Knight scored for the visitors. Ann-Renée Desbiens turned aside 18 shots in goal for the win.
QUOTES
Victoire forward Claire Dalton on the team’s play: “I think in general we executed the game plan, and Kori [Cheverie] had a talk with all of us individually yesterday. For me, I executed what she wanted me to do. On my goal, Kori had asked that I take the puck to the net and this time it worked out.”
Victoire goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens about killing Catherine Dubois’ five-minute major penalty at the beginning of the third period: “Knowing the person, she (Dubois) has one of the biggest hearts. She is one of the kindest human beings I have ever met. You just want to support her and be there for her, and obviously get that kill, we did exactly that. She is one of the best teammates who always puts the team first, so we owed her one.”
Fleet captain Hilary Knight: “I think we needed to put the puck in the back of the net on our special teams, especially for the number of power plays that we got. We were just short of executing. We’re going to take this back, work on it and it’s onto the next game.”
Fleet Head Coach Courtney Kessel on playing Emma Söderberg tonight: “We have three tremendous goaltenders and we’re on the road here another nine days. I think it’s a total of 17 days living out of our bags, so it’s going to be hard, but when you have three great goalies you might as well play them.”
NOTABLES
Montréal’s four-game winning streak is the longest in team history. The Victoire had two different three-game winning streaks during the inaugural season.
Boston has now lost three straight road games to open the season and remain one of two teams in the PWHL without a victory on the road.
Ann-Renée Desbiens earned her third win of the season in her fourth start. This was her first win against Boston following five head-to-head losses between the regular-season and playoffs.
Claire Dalton’s goal was her first of the campaign and marked just the second time Montréal has scored the first goal in six games to open the season. Dalton added an assist for her first multi-point game of the season and the second of her career.
Kristin O’Neill’s goal was her first of the season and first career shorthanded tally. Montréal leads the PWHL with two ‘Jailbreak’ goals after scoring just once shorthanded during the inaugural season.
Anna Wilgren’s first career PWHL goal was also her first career point. The fifth-round draft pick scored on her sixth shot on goal this season.
Hilary Knight’s goal moves her into a tie for second in the PWHL with three tallies. She now has five points in six games (3G, 2A).
Megan Keller recorded an assist for the second straight game and is tied with Knight for the team lead in scoring with five points in six games (2G, 3A). She is also tied for third in scoring among defenders.
Boston’s Hannah Bilka recorded an assist and has points in two straight games. The fourth overall pick is tied for second in rookie scoring with four points in six games (1G, 3A).
Montréal’s Mariah Keopple and Alexandra Labelle both recorded their first assists of the season. They each have points in two straight games after scoring their first goals of the season on Saturday.
Emma Söderberg stopped 28 shots in her first start of the season. The Boston netminder appeared in eight games during the inaugural season.
Boston’s Emily Brown (26) and Montréal’s Dara Greig (24) both celebrated birthdays today.
Montréal held Boston’s top ranked power play without a goal on five opportunities with the advantage – including a five-minute major to open the third period. The Fleet entered the game with a 40% success rate and now rank second at 26.7% (4/15). The Victoire penalty kill improves to second in the league at 88.2% (15/17).
Montréal has outshot their opponent in all five of their victories this season. Boston has been outshot in all six of their games.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Boston 0 1 0 - 1
Montréal 1 2 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Montréal, Dalton 1 (Keopple), 19:23. Penalties-Boreen Mtl (tripping), 4:55; Shirley Bos (cross checking), 7:33; Shirley Bos (boarding), 9:43.
2nd Period-2, Boston, Knight 3 (Bilka, Keller), 10:30. 3, Montréal, O'Neill 1 (Dalton), 17:12 (SH). 4, Montréal, Wilgren 1 (Grant-Mentis, Labelle), 18:27. Penalties-Bilka Bos (cross checking), 4:38; Dubois Mtl (hooking), 16:42; Dubois Mtl (major - check to the head, game misconduct), 20:00.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Murphy Mtl (slashing), 9:57; Rattray Bos (roughing), 12:23; Tabin Mtl (cross checking), 17:27.
Shots on Goal-Boston 8-9-2-19. Montréal 9-10-12-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Boston 0 / 5; Montréal 0 / 4.
Goalies-Boston, Söderberg 0-1-0-0 (31 shots-28 saves). Montréal, Desbiens 3-1-0-0 (19 shots-18 saves).
A-10,172 (sell out)
THREE STARS
1. Claire Dalton (MTL) 1G, 1A
2. Kristin O’Neill (MTL) SHG
3. Hilary Knight (BOS) 1G
STANDINGS
Montréal (3-2-0-1) – 13 PTS – 1st Place
Boston (2-0-0-4) – 6 PTS – 6th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Boston: Thursday, January 2 at Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. ET
Montréal: Sunday, January 5 at Boston at 4:00 p.m. ET (Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle)