NEWARK, NJ (February 2, 2025) – Marie-Philip Poulin powered the Montréal Victoire to their fifth-straight win on Sunday afternoon, scoring both of her team’s goals in a 2-1 victory over the New York Sirens at Prudential Center. After a scoreless first period, Poulin opened the scoring less than a minute into the second period as she fended off three New York players to find the back of the net in a one-on-three play. The Victoire captain struck again four minutes later, firing the puck top shelf to double Montréal’s lead heading into the final frame. The Sirens continued to fight late into the game, as Allyson Simpson netted her first PWHL goal to spark life into the New York bench with seven minutes left in the game. While the Sirens continued to push for the equalizer, Ann-Renée Desbiens stood tall in net for the Victoire, turning aside 23 of 24 shots for her league-leading eighth win in her 10th start of the season. At the other end of the ice, rookie netminder Kayle Osborne stopped 18 of 20 shots between the pipes for the Sirens in her fourth start. Montréal’s team-record five consecutive wins extends their stronghold on the league’s top spot with 31 points - six ahead of second-place Minnesota heading into the international break, while New York remains in third place with 20 points.
QUOTES
Montréal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens on today’s win: “For us as a team, it's our third game in a short amount of time, and to come out here, get three points, to go home, to go on a break, it was pretty significant. We're really happy with the effort and how we're able to battle through everything and just keep going.”
Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on taking a break while rolling a five-game win streak: “We have a great staff and great players that are leaving and staying in terms of the international break, and so I think everybody is on a mission, that's for us as a team. We've set some goals that we keep to ourselves, but we know what they are. We are preparing our players that are staying in Montréal and the players playing for their respective countries will be focused on that, but when they come back, they'll be excited to see each other again. It's a very close group, and there's a lot of love in that group.”
New York defender Allyson Simpson on scoring her first PWHL goal: “To get on the board and score like that for your first in the league, it’s been great. To get that monkey off your back so many games into the season, it’s nice to finally get one and get rewarded in that way. Not the outcome we wanted but we made a good push for it in the third and I was happy to be able to contribute.”
Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo: “Tonight, we hit some shin pads and missed the net a lot but overall, we’re feeling a lot better about ourselves, but on the collective, I think there’s a lot about our game we like. Going into the break, we’re look at things more closely but overall is good.”
Sirens forward Jessie Eldridge on Kim Davis (NHL Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs) leading the ceremonial puck drop to celebrate Black History Month: “I think it’s huge and I think hockey is a sport that we must continue to build on inclusion and diversity. It’s an expensive sport and it’s not available to everyone in the world, so to have someone of her (stature) coming to try and push that is helpful and we want to push it in the communities, and we want more and more girls to play in our sport. So, I think that’s an awesome representative from a lot of visibility here for us today.”
NOTABLES
Montréal becomes the first team to secure a regulation win against all five other teams this season.
The Victoire have collected 14 of a possible 15 points during their current five-game winning streak which began on Jan. 17. The streak surpasses their previous high of four straight wins from Dec. 6-30.
Marie-Philip Poulin becomes the first player this season to reach the 10-goal mark, matching her goal total through 21 games in the inaugural season. This is the second time the Victoire captain has found the back of the net twice in the second period through three multi-point efforts this season, with the first time coming in her hat trick against Ottawa on Wednesday. Poulin was one of six players to score 10 goals last season and has now tied Natalie Spooner for most career regular-season goals with 20.
Poulin is the only visiting player to score in all three of New York’s primary venues over two seasons (Total Mortgage Arena – Bridgeport, CT; UBS Arena – Elmont, NY; Prudential Center – Newark, NJ).
Sarah Fillier recorded her 10th assist of the season to extend her career-high point streak to six games (1G, 5A). The Sirens rookie moves into sole possession of the league lead in scoring with 15 points (5G, 10A) in 14 games and is the league’s only active player to be averaging more than a point per game (1.07).
Ann-Renée Desbiens improves her league-leading goals-against average to 1.77 and now leads the league with a save percentage of .935 among goaltenders with at least five games. Her eight victories in 10 games surpasses the seven wins she recorded in 16 games during the inaugural season.
Allyson Simpson’s first-career goal moves her into third in rookie scoring among defenders with four points (1G, 3A) in 14 games. The Sirens third-round draft pick tallied on her 27th shot on goal this season – a category she ranks first among rookies at her position.
Abby Boreen tallied two primary assists for the first time in her career and now has four multi-point games this season. Her 10 points (5G, 5A) in 14 games is tied for second in Victoire scoring.
Jennifer Gardiner recorded her seventh assist of the season, moving her into second in rookie scoring with 10 points (3G, 7A) in 14 games. She is also tied for the second-most points among Victoire players, alongside Boreen.
Cayla Barnes recorded her sixth assist of the season and is now third among rookie skaters in the category. Her seven points (1G, 6A) in 14 games lead all rookie defenders and rank second among Victoire blue liners.
Ella Shelton tallied her fourth assist of the season to extend her point streak to four games, recording 3G, 2A in this stretch. The Sirens defender has eight points (4G, 4A) in nine games and is tied for fifth in scoring at the position.
Alex Carpenter missed the first game of her PWHL career with an upper-body injury sustained during New York’s Friday night game in Boston.
New York now has 17 individual players, including six defenders, who have found the back of the net this season, the most of any team in the league.
The Sirens’ league-leading penalty kill improves to 91.4% after fending off one Victoire power play in today’s game.
Montréal fired a season-low 23 shots on net during the game, picking up their third win of the season when being out shot by their opponents. The Victoire recorded five shots on net in the first period after producing a season-low four first period shots against the Sirens in their first meeting.
The Victoire have now scored a league-high 22 goals in the second period in 14 games this season – eight more than Minnesota who have second 14 goals in the second period in 15 games.
Montréal is tied for the league-lead with six wins when scoring the game’s first goal. The Victoire have scored first in eight of their 14 games this season.
At 13:48 of the second period, Poulin was assessed a major penalty for charging. The play was reviewed by the on-ice officials, in consultation with the PWHL Central Situation Room, and determined there would be no game misconduct imposed since the infraction did not result in an injury to the face or head of her opponent, per PWHL Rule 42 – Charging.
In celebration of today’s Black History Month Unity Game, New York players arrived at the rink wearing commemorative shirts featuring a special Black History Month league logo designed by artist Kezna Dalz. The shirt was also worn by Sirens coaches and staff during the game.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Montréal 0 2 0 - 2
New York 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Simpson Ny (boarding), 15:02.
2nd Period-1, Montréal, Poulin 9 (Boreen, Barnes), 0:34. 2, Montréal, Poulin 10 (Boreen, Gardiner), 4:34. Penalties-Boreen Mtl (cross checking), 5:54; Fillier Ny (roughing), 5:54; Ljungblom Mtl (roughing), 11:36; Poulin Mtl (major-charging), 13:48.
3rd Period-3, New York, Simpson 1 (Fillier, Shelton), 13:53. Penalties-Ljungblom Mtl (holding), 15:26.
Shots on Goal-Montréal 5-8-7-20. New York 6-6-12-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Montréal 0 / 1; New York 0 / 3.
Goalies-Montréal, Desbiens 8-1-0-1 (24 shots-23 saves). New York, Osborne 1-2-0-1 (20 shots-18 saves).
A-4,346
THREE STARS
1. Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) 2G
2. Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 23/24 SV
3. Allyson Simpson (NY) 1G
STANDINGS
Montréal (8-3-1-2) - 31 PTS – 1st Place
New York (4-3-2-5) - 20 PTS – 3rd Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
New York: Wednesday, February 12 vs. Boston at 7 p.m. ET
Montréal: Saturday, February 15 vs. New York at 2 p.m. ET