Marie-Philip Poulin's shootout winner lifts Victoire to 4-3 win over Charge in PWHL

Montreal Victoire's Kristin O'Neill takes a shot on Ottawa Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer during second period PWHL hockey action in Laval, Que., Saturday, November 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

November 30, 2024 - 5:20 PM

LAVAL, Que. - Marie-Philip Poulin scored the shootout winner for the Montreal Victoire in a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Charge in a thrilling season-opener for both teams Saturday.

The Victoire captain buried the only goal of the five-round shootout after missing a previous attempt and a breakaway late in overtime.

Jennifer Gardiner, Laura Stacey and Abigail Boreen scored in regulation for Montreal (0-1-0-0) before a crowd of 10,033 at Place Bell. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 29 shots.

Tereza Vanisova, Danielle Serdachny and Emily Clark scored in regulation for Ottawa (0-0-1-0), which missed the playoffs last season.

Ottawa's goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer was a hard worker with 42 saves.

Clark opened the scoring 7:49 into the first period after her open-ice hit on Victoire forward Kristin O’Neill went unpenalized.

Serdachny, drafted second overall in this year’s draft, doubled the lead 2:20 into the second with her first in the PWHL. The Edmonton forward's pass in front deflected off the skate of Montreal's Kati Tabin and into the net.

Boreen responded at 5:35 by capitalizing off a neutral-zone turnover and ripping a shot top corner to animate the home crowd. Stacey followed suit by cranking one off the crossbar and in on the power play at 11:28 to tie the game.

The Charge re-took the lead when Vanisova on a breakaway beat Desbiens for a power-play goal at 17:28.

Gardiner drew the hosts even with another power-play goal at 11:20 of the third. She scored on a pass from fellow Ohio State alum Cayla Barnes.

Takeaways

Victoire: First-round draft pick Barnes drew into the lineup after missing nearly all of training camp with a lower-body injury.

Charge: Captain Brianne Jenner, who led the team with 20 points last season, was out for the game with an upper-body injury.

Key moment

In the dying seconds of overtime, Poulin powered her way to a breakaway after a strong backcheck, but didn't beat Maschmeyer.

Key stat

The Victoire dominated in shots on net by a 36-19 margin through two periods, but Maschmeyer held the Charge in the game. Ottawa’s netminder repelled 19 shots in the first period.

Up next

Victoire: Host the New York Sirens on Wednesday.

Charge: Host the Toronto Sceptres in their home opener Tuesday.

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