LAVAL, QC – It was a night of milestones for the Montréal Victoire in a 4-0 win over the New York Sirens in the team’s home opener on Tuesday night before a crowd of 8,392 at Place Bell. Abby Roque scored her first goal and two assists as a member of the Victoire against her former team, captain Marie-Philip Poulin became the first player in PWHL history to record 30 career goals and 50 career points, rookie Natálie Mlýnková scored her first career PWHL goal, and Ann-Renée Desbiens turned aside all 33 shots faced for her first win and shutout of the season. 
After a scoreless first period, Montréal capitalized on the power play just 30 seconds into the middle frame when Mlýnková deflected an Erin Ambrose point shot past Kayle Osborne. Poulin made it 2-0 when she converted a two-on-one pass from Laura Stacey at 18:45. Stacey picked up her second assist of the game when she sent Roque alone on a breakaway for a highlight-reel between-the-legs goal at 13:26 of the third. Maggie Flaherty iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:50. Osborne made 26 saves in defeat, with New York unable to find the scoresheet after opening the season with a 4-0 shutout win of their own against Ottawa on Saturday. Both teams are now 1-0-0-1 through their first two games of the season.
QUOTES
Victoire forward Abby Roque on playing her first game in Montréal in front of her new fans: “It was a really fun game. Even from the starting lineup, especially for our rookies looking at me when everybody is getting announced, and they’re like ‘This is crazy’, and I was like ‘Yeah, it’s pretty cool’. So it’s really fun to be able to play in front of this market.”
Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on newcomer Abby Roque: “We’re able to use Abby in a lot of different situations. And the fact that her and Pou (Marie-Philip Poulin) kind of switch off at the center position, depending on who’s winning against certain centers, is really helpful too. Her goal was outstanding, just to create something with the limited space that she had, but that’s the type of player that she is. She’s very cerebral. She’s got a very high IQ, and she’s constantly thinking about the game and strategizing, and she’s the one pulling people in to talk about different ways to handle certain situations. And I thought she did really well on the kill as well. For us to keep adding power play players, but also killers, is really helpful for our overall game.”
Sirens forward Kristin O’Neill playing her first game back in Montréal: “My welcome was great. I think playing in Montréal is always very exciting, especially with the fans, whether you’re the home team or the away team. Every athlete feels the energy that the fans and the crowd bring. It was definitely weird being on the other side, but I’m happy to be with the teal and orange and I’m really excited to see what this group has next in store.”
New York Head Coach Greg Fargo on Ann-Renée Desbiens and her performance against New York: “I think it was a hot goalie for sure. Ann-Renée played an exceptional game; it made it really tough for us to even get some rebounds. We thought some chances could have been there for us, but overall, there were a lot of good parts of our game. I thought we got better as it went on – but the start wasn’t what we wanted. I think Montréal did a nice job to feed off the energy of the crowd early on, and we were on our heels for the first 10 minutes of the game, and that made it tough to get our game established tonight.”
NOTABLES
Montréal has now won two straight home openers at Place Bell following a 4-3 shootout win over Ottawa last season on Nov. 30, 2024.
Abby Roque recorded her second career three-point performance, with the first also consisting of a goal and two assists with New York on Feb. 4, 2024. Acquired by the Victoire in a trade with the Sirens on draft day, Roque recorded five multi-point efforts in 54 career games with New York.
Marie-Philip Poulin reached and surpassed the half century mark for career points with a goal and an assist in her 53rd career game and holds the league’s best all-time points-per-game average (0.96). The Victoire captain’s 30 career goals lead the next highest scorer by seven (Natalie Spooner, 23) and her 51 career points are also seven more than the next two players (Daryl Watts and Alex Carpenter, 44).
Natálie Mlýnková became the second player from the 2025 draft class to score her first career PWHL goal, with both counting as game-winners (Kiara Zanon, Toronto). The Victoire second-round pick was credited with the team’s first power play goal of the season on just their second opportunity with the player advantage.
Ann-Renée Desbiens recorded her first shutout since the inaugural season when she made 31 saves in a 2-0 victory over Ottawa on Apr. 27, 2024. Only one of her league leading 15 wins during the 2024-25 season required more than tonight’s 33 saves, stopping 40 in a 2-1 shootout victory over Minnesota on Mar. 4, 2025.
Laura Stacey recorded two assists in a game for the sixth time in her career. Last season, the Victoire alternate captain tied for third on the team with 11 assists, including five helpers on Poulin’s league leading 19 goals. She has points in three straight Montréal home openers after scoring a goal in each of the first two.
Erin Ambrose has recorded a point in all three of Montréal’s home openers. The Victoire alternate captain scored the team’s first-ever goal at Verdun Auditorium back on Jan. 13, 2024 against Boston, and picked up a power play assist last season at Place Bell against Ottawa. Her 28 career assists leads all PWHL skaters.
Maggie Flaherty became the first Victoire defender to score a goal this season. She signed with Montréal in the offseason after spending two years with Minnesota where she recorded one goal in each of her first two seasons.
Alexandra Labelle and Kati Tabin both found the scoresheet with assists to put them ahead of last season’s point pace. In 2024-25, Labelle went four games without a point before scoring her first goal on Dec. 28, 2024, and Tabin went 10 games without a point before scoring a goal and an assist on Jan. 19, 2025.
Sarah Fillier led all players with seven shots on goal for New York, a new career-high for the reigning co-scoring leader.
Casey O’Brien, New York’s third overall pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft, led all players with 17 faceoff wins on 24 attempts.
Kristin O’Neill returned to Montréal for her first game as a member of New York and recorded two shots on goal and went 10/20 at the faceoff dot. 
Kayle Osborne made consecutive starts for the first time in her PWHL career after posting a shutout in New York’s season opener.
New York outshot Montréal 33-30 and have now led their first two games in shots. The Victoire have been outshot in both of their first two games this season.
Both teams had potential scoring plays reviewed by the PWHL Central Situation Room, including a potential Stacey goal at 11:38 of the first period, then one by New York’s Kayla Vespa at 3:43 of the second period. In both situations, the PWHL CSR supported the original ‘no goal’ call made on the ice, determining that both players used distinct kicking motions to propel the puck in the net.
THREE STARS
1. Abby Roque (MTL) 1G, 2A
2. Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 33/33 SV
3. Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) 1G, 1A
You must be logged in to post a comment.