QUÉBEC CITY, QC (Jan. 19, 2025) – The Montréal Victoire moved into sole possession of first place in the PWHL standings after securing a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Charge in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,259 at Videotron Centre in the fourth game of the PWHL Takeover Tour™. After a scoreless first period, Québec City native Catherine Dubois opened the scoring in front of her hometown crowd late in the second period, giving Montréal a 1-0 lead heading into the final frame. Shiann Darkangelo responded with a tip-in goal mid-way through the third period to equalize the score, but the Victoire regained the lead just four minutes later with a power play goal from defender Kati Tabin. Despite ample empty-net chances as the Charge hoped to force extra time, the Victoire stymied Ottawa’s late comeback hopes to secure the 2-1 win. Ann-Renée Desbiens secured her sixth win in eight starts for the Victoire, stopping 26 of 27 shots faced. At the other end of the ice, Ottawa netminder Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 33 of 35 shots in her ninth start of the season.
QUOTES
Catherine Dubois, who scored the first goal in her hometown: “In my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined such a scenario. It's a really special game and I'm really lucky to be living these moments. When I jumped on the ice, I couldn't see anything because my eyes were full of tears. I tried to calm down a bit. My legs were heavier and my heart was beating faster than usual.”
Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin: “It's crazy to see so many young girls in the stands who can dream of a professional career when there was virtually nothing for girls not so long ago, and to see how far we've come. It's our motivation every day to train and play for these youngsters.”
Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer on the crowd exploding during player presentations: “I had chills all over my body, specifically when they mentioned Marie-Philip Poulin. I was like, this is insane. The energy was so incredible. I looked at Gabbie Hughes beside me and said this is amazing. So, the energy that was brought today, it was a dream to play in front of these fans.”
Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod on Quebec’s hopes of getting a PWHL expansion team: “The community is ready for it, and what a community this is! From the hotel staff, out to the community we visited, everyone was so nice. We went to have poutine! We were in Quebec, so why wouldn’t we? And then there’s an exclamation, times 10, with crowd we had today. I’m grateful that I’m not the one at the league making the choice of where expansion will go, but every community has risen to opportunity in this Takeover Tour. We’re thrilled to be part of it. There is no doubt that this is a hockey centric area and that a team would be supported if they got one. I can only imagine the rivalry between the Canadiens and the Nordiques back in the day. Maschmeyer and I, being from Alberta, we live it with Edmonton and Calgary.”
NOTABLES
The sell-out crowd of 18,259 is the second-highest attendance figure of the season and the second highest for a PWHL Takeover Tour™ game. Vancouver’s Takeover Tour game between Montréal and Toronto on Jan. 9 is the only game this season to surpass today’s attendance total, with 19,038 fans in the crowd.
Catherine Dubois scored the game’s opening goal in front of her hometown crowd, including more than 100 family and friends. The Victoire forward, who grew up just five minutes away from Videotron Centre, now has two goals on the season and three points in as many games (2G, 1A).
Ann-Renée Desbiens moves into a tie with New York goaltender Corinne Schroeder for most wins on the season (6).
The Victoire have scored two power play goals in each of their last two contests and have found the score sheet on the advantage in three consecutive games. Montréal is 5/12 (41.7%) during this three-game stretch and now leads the league with the most power play goals (8).
Kati Tabin recorded her first goal and assist of the season for her first multi-point performance of her PWHL career. Six of the Montréal defender’s eight career points have come against Ottawa.
Erin Ambrose tallied her team-leading seventh and eighth assists of the season in her second consecutive multi-point game. The Montréal defender recorded three helpers in her team’s previous game against Minnesota on Friday and is now tied for second in the league for most assists on the season.
Abby Boreen recorded her third assist of the season for the Victoire and shares the team lead in points with eight, alongside Ambrose.
Emerance Maschmeyer recorded her league-high fifth 30+ save game of the season for the Charge, making 33 saves in the contest. No other PWHL goaltender has more than one 30+ save performance this season.
Montréal has won seven of eight all-time meetings against Ottawa, including all three games this season.
Desbiens became the first goaltender this season to record a penalty after being called for interference mid-way through the first period. Both of her two career penalties have come against Ottawa, with the first being a delay of game call last season in a 4-2 loss on Mar. 24.
Shiann Darkangelo scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season for the Charge and is now tied for second-most in the league in the category. There are currently seven players in the PWHL tied with 5 goals apiece.
Stephanie Markowski recorded her third assist of the season for Ottawa–– her second this season against the Victoire. The rookie is tied for second for most points among Charge defenders with three.
Jincy Roese returned to the lineup for the Charge after missing the last three games due to injury. Roese recorded 17:46 on the ice today and leads Charge defenders with five points (2G, 3A) in eight games this season.
Marie-Philip Poulin recorded a season-high 21:18 time on ice for the Victoire. Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque led all players in ice time at 24:07.
Four Quebec-born players were featured in today’s starting lineup for the Victoire, including forwards Poulin, Dubois and Alexandra Labelle, alongside Desbiens between the pipes.
Marilou Grenier read the starting lineup for today’s game. The Québec City native recorded the shutout victory in Canada’s 3-0 win over the USA at the U18 Worlds earlier this year. Remparts Assistant General Manager Nicole Bouchard was invited to read the Victoire’s starting lineup.
Montréal and Ottawa wore specialty jerseys this afternoon 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 were worn earlier this season by Montréal and Toronto in a Takeover Tour game in Vancouver and will be worn in four other games across Canada this season.
Ottawa will play in the fifth game of the PWHL Takeover Tour™ in Edmonton on Feb. 16 against Toronto. They’ll also play in the seventh stop in Raleigh vs. Minnesota on Mar. 7 and the ninth and final stop, in St. Louis, against Boson on Mar. 29.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Ottawa 0 0 1 - 1
Montréal 0 1 1 - 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Desbiens Mtl (interference), 10:57.
2nd Period-1, Montréal, Dubois 2 (Tabin, Ambrose), 19:29 (PP). Penalties-Vasko Ott (slashing), 3:10; Serdachny Ott (holding), 18:02.
3rd Period-2, Ottawa, Darkangelo 4 (Boyd, Markowski), 9:21. 3, Montréal, Tabin 1 (Ambrose, Boreen), 13:47 (PP). Penalties-Murphy Mtl (hooking), 6:29; Markowski Ott (interference), 13:12.
Shots on Goal-Ottawa 9-10-8-27. Montréal 7-17-11-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Ottawa 0 / 2; Montréal 2 / 3.
Goalies-Ottawa, Maschmeyer 4-4-0-1 (35 shots-33 saves). Montréal, Desbiens 6-1-0-1 (27 shots-26 saves).
Attendance:18,259 (sell out)
THREE STARS
Catherine Dubois (MTL) 1G
Emerance Maschmeyer (OTT) 33/35 SV
Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 26/27 SV
STANDINGS
Montréal (6-2-1-2) – 23 PTS – 1st Place
Ottawa (4-0-2-5) – 14 PTS – 4th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Ottawa: Tuesday, January 21 at. Minnesota at 6:00 p.m. CT
Montréal: Wednesday, January 29 vs. Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. ET