Victoire beat Fleet 3-1 for fourth straight win, move to top of PWHL standings

Montreal Victoire's Claire Dalton (42) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Boston Fleet during first period PWHL hockey action in Laval, Que., Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press)

Claire Dalton had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Victoire defeated the Boston Fleet 3-1 on Monday night in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Anna Wilgren and Kristin O’Neill also scored, while Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 18 shots for Montreal (3-2-0-1) before a sellout crowd of 10,172 at Place Bell.

The Victoire took over first place in the six-team PWHL standings with their fourth consecutive win. They have 13 points, one more than the Minnesota Frost.

Hilary Knight replied with her third of the season for Boston (2-0-0-4), which lost its second game in a row and sits last in the league.

Emma Soderberg made 28 saves in her first start this season.

The two teams met for the first time since Boston beat Montreal in the PWHL semifinal last season. Boston edged Montreal in three straight overtime games — including a triple OT marathon in Game 2 at Place Bell — to sweep the series.

Takeaways

Victoire: They killed off a five-minute penalty to start the third, allowing only one shot, after forward Catherine Dubois received a game misconduct for a hit to the head of Boston defender Megan Keller. Montreal also shut down Boston’s power play — which entered 4 for 10 on the season — twice more in the period.

Fleet: Knight is halfway to matching last season’s total of six goals, an encouraging sign for Boston. The Fleet, however, have only 12 goals through six games to rank last in the league, continuing a trend from last season.

Key moment

O’Neill put Montreal up 2-1 with a short-handed goal at 17:12 of the second period. The 26-year-old centre beat Soderberg five-hole on a breakaway, ending Boston’s power play 30 seconds in thanks to the league’s “jailbreak” rule. Wilgren then doubled the lead at 18:27.

Key stat

Montreal’s league-worst power play fell to 2 for 25 on the season. After scoring twice on the power play in their season-opener, the Victoire have failed to score in their last 18 attempts with the advantage.

Up next

Victoire: Take on the Fleet in Seattle on Jan. 5 as part of three straight games on the PWHL’s Takeover Tour.

Fleet: Visit the Minnesota Frost on Thursday before meeting Montreal in Seattle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2024.