LAVAL, QC (January 29, 2025) – Marie-Philip Poulin scored the season’s first hat trick and rookie Jennifer Gardiner had a career-high goal and two assists to secure a 4-1 win for the Montréal Victoire over the Ottawa Charge at Place Bell. Montréal has triumphed in all four matchups with Ottawa this season and, with their third straight victory, have regained the league lead over Minnesota with 26 points in the standings. Midway through the first period, Tereza Vanišová scored the first and only goal for Ottawa, giving them a brief 1-0 lead going into the second period. Montréal scored three goals in the span of 8:02 in the middle frame, beginning with a Poulin one-timer at 2:10, followed by a Gardiner breakaway snipe at 7:31 which held as the game-winner. The Victoire captain added her second goal at 10:12 of the middle frame on the power play and completed the hat trick into the empty net at 16:16 of the third. Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 31 shots for her league-leading seventh win of the season. Charge rookie Gwyneth Philips got the start and allowed three goals on 12 shots. She was relieved by Emerance Maschmeyer who turned aside all 20 shots she faced.
QUOTES
Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on Marie-Philip Poulin's powerful shot that put the Victoire on the board: “I thought that that goal turned the tides of the entire game. (Gwyneth) Philips came out of the game, but I thought she played really well, but the three shots that beat her were perfectly placed shots. I am glad Pou shot that hard. Normally, she won't take too many one timers in practice if her teammates are in front of her, so I am really happy that all that one-timer work she puts in at the end at practice paid off."
Victoire Captain Marie-Philip Poulin on bouncing back after a rough first period: “We just came back from nine days off, so it's true that the first twenty minutes weren't necessarily our best, but I think being able to come together in the room after the first, talking to each other and seeing what we could change. I think in the second half we were able to change our mindset, and we got our legs back. We put a lot of pressure on her, and Ann-Renée (Desbiens) kept us in the game - her saves were incredible tonight.”
Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod on what made the difference in this game: “We probably played our best period of the season in the first. We were really playing well, and we were really taking it too to Montréal. We had many opportunities to score a couple goals in that period. Kudos to Ann (Renée Desbiens) for her capabilities, but I felt like all those missed opportunities certainly hurt us. When we get those grade-A chances, you need to put them away. In the second period, Montréal got some of those chances and they put them away. So, to me, that was probably the difference in the game, and we’ve just got to figure that out.”
MacLeod on making a goaltender switch midway through the game with a 3-1 score: “Anytime you pull a goalie, it stings them a little bit, but it was just more to give ourselves a chance. The momentum had shifted and sometimes you try to give your team a jolt, so that's exactly what happened there. It’s nothing we're going to worry about.”
NOTABLES
Montréal has won eight of their nine all-time matchups against Ottawa. This was the first time the Victoire have won back-to-back games where both matchups have come against the same opponent following a 2-1 win over the Charge on Jan. 19.
Ottawa was held to fewer than two goals for the fourth straight game and third straight matchup against Montréal.
Marie-Philip Poulin recorded the second hat trick of her career and now leads the PWHL with eight goals in 12 games. The Victoire captain was one of eight players to register a hat trick during the inaugural season on Jan. 10, 2024, against New York. Poulin has scored six goals, including two power play markers, in her last five games dating back to her first multi-goal effort of the season on Jan. 8 against Toronto. She leads the team with 10 points (8G, 2A) in 12 games.
Jennifer Gardiner recorded the first multi-point game of her PWHL career. The goal was her first scored at even strength and her first game-winning goal this season. The Victoire’s second-round draft pick now ranks second overall in rookie scoring with nine points (3G, 6A) in 12 games and is tied for second in team scoring.
Tereza Vanišová’s fourth goal of the season was her first point in eight games with a drought dating back to Dec. 31, 2024, against Toronto. She continues to lead the team in scoring with seven points (4G, 3A) in 14 games.
The Charge opened the scoring for a league-leading ninth time in 14 games but have won just four of those contests. Their goal tonight ended a scoreless streak of 126:43 minutes going back to the first period of their 1-0 victory over Minnesota on Jan. 21.
Jincy Roese recorded an assist to set a new career-high with six points (2G, 4A) in 11 games, which ranks second on the team in scoring. The Charge defender had five points (5A) in 24 games during the inaugural season.
Ann-Renée Desbiens has won four straight starts and her 31 saves count as her second highest total in a single game this season. She now leads the league with a 1.86 goals-against average and is tied for first with a .933 save percentage with Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer (among goalies with a minimum four games).
Erin Ambrose recorded an assist to extend her point streak to three straight games (6A). The Victoire defender has eight assists in her last six games and ranks fourth overall in the league with nine assists in 12 games.
Cayla Barnes recorded her fourth assist in six games since the calendar turned to 2025. The Victoire first-round selection picked up her fifth helper on the power play tonight and is tied with Boston’s Hannah Bilka for the rookie lead in power play points with five. She is also tied for second among all skaters with five power play assists.
Kati Tabin recorded an assist to give her three points in her last two games (1G, 2A). The Victoire defender was held without a point in her first 10 games of the season.
Emily Clark led all players with six shots on goal. The Charge forward is one of two players this season to record at least four shots in six games this season along with Minnesota’s Taylor Heise.
Kateřina Mrázová had a career-night in the faceoff circle winning 13/17 for a 76.5% efficiency. Poulin took 25 faceoffs for the second straight game – her season-high – and won 13.
Montréal snapped their six-game streak of scoring the game’s first goal.
The Victoire recorded a power play goal for the fourth straight game and are 6/15 (40%) during that stretch.
Montréal’s three goals in the second period is the team’s highest single-period goal total of the season.
Ottawa recorded 15 shots in the first period which counts as their highest single-period shot total of the season.
The Victoire have won all seven games in which they have outshot their opponent.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Ottawa 1 0 0 - 1
Montréal 0 3 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Ottawa, Vanišová 4 (Roese, Larocque), 10:02. Penalties-Kjellbin Mtl (interference), 15:03; Clark Ott (tripping), 19:29.
2nd Period-2, Montréal, Poulin 6 (Gardiner, Wilgren), 2:10. 3, Montréal, Gardiner 3 (Boulier, Tabin), 7:31. 4, Montréal, Poulin 7 (Gardiner, Barnes), 10:12 (PP). Penalties-Markowski Ott (cross checking), 9:03; Larocque Ott (holding), 11:06.
3rd Period-5, Montréal, Poulin 8 (Ambrose), 16:16 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Ottawa 15-7-10-32. Montréal 6-15-12-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Ottawa 0 / 1; Montréal 1 / 3.
Goalies-Ottawa, Philips 1-2-1-0 (12 shots-9 saves); Maschmeyer 4-5-0-1 (20 shots-20 saves). Montréal, Desbiens 7-1-0-1 (32 shots-31 saves).
A-6,150
THREE STARS
1. Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) 3G
2. Jennifer Gardiner (MTL) 1G, 2A
3. Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 31/32 SV
STANDINGS
Montréal (7-2-1-2) - 26 PTS – 1st Place
Ottawa (5-0-2-7) - 17 PTS – 4th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Montréal: Thursday, January 30 vs. Toronto at 7 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Saturday, February 1 at Toronto at 2 p.m. ET