Montreal Victoire edge Toronto Sceptres 4-2 in first PWHL game in Vancouver

In February 2010, at the Vancouver Olympics women’s hockey tournament, Marie-Philip Poulin showed Canada her talent and her ability to score memorable goals. Almost 15 years later, in the same arena, she proved that she was still capable of wowing.

In an extraordinary move, Poulin scored the eventual winning goal in the second period of a 4-2 victory for the Montreal Victoire over the Toronto Sceptres on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.

The Montreal team was leading 2-0 when Poulin scored the kind of goal that few players in the WHL, other than the Victoire captain, could have scored.

After recovering a loose puck near the Sceptres’ blue line, Poulin advanced into the opposing zone before passing the puck to Erin Ambrose, whose shot was blocked.

The puck bounced about 20 feet from goalie Kristen Campbell and up to Poulin, who had fallen to the ice. Kneeling and lunging forward, Poulin unleashed a powerful wrist shot that snuck into the top right corner of the net.

Poulin then sealed the game by scoring the insurance goal into an empty net at 19:09 of the third period, after Toronto had cut Montreal’s lead to a single goal.

For the Victoire captain, these were her third and fourth goals of the season.

But most importantly, Wednesday night took her back to when she was 18, when Poulin experienced her first unforgettable moments in the same stadium.

On Feb. 25, 2010, in the Olympic gold medal game against the United States, Poulin scored both goals for Canada in a 2-0 victory.

“It’s been a while, and coming back gave me chills. And it’s a privilege. I don’t take it for granted. It’s pretty awesome to be a part of this.”

“For me, coming back to Vancouver definitely brings back memories that are very special. And another one tonight. Honestly, to be able to play in front of a sold-out crowd in this new league, and represent Montreal, there’s no better feeling.”

The game, the first in the history of the PWHL to be played in Vancouver, was attended by 19,038 spectators. It was the largest crowd of the second season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and the third largest in the history of the league.

Many of those spectators were family and friends of Jennifer Gardiner, a Victoire forward from Surrey, B.C.

“I was shaking, smiling, feeling every emotion possible, but also enjoying the moment,” Gardiner said.

“Playing at Rogers Arena is something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life, that’s for sure.”

Mikyla Grant-Mentis also contributed to the win with a goal, her second of the season, and an assist on Claire Dalton’s goal, also her second.

While she didn’t necessarily look her best on the two goals she allowed, by Daryl Watts and Jesse Compher, goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens put up a solid performance, making 29 saves.

At the other end of the ice, Campbell stopped 21 shots.

With this win, the Victoire (4-2-1-1 – 17 points) took first place in the standings, one point ahead of the Minnesota Frost, who had defeated the Boston Fleet in overtime earlier Wednesday.

The Victoire will complete its trip to the American West next Sunday at Ball Arena in Denver. Once again, Kori Cheverie’s players will be the visiting club, this time against the Frost.

A first this season

The Victoire had a good start to the first period and an even better start in the second period. As a result, for the first time this season, the Montreal team held a three-goal lead, and this before the half-hour mark.

Grant-Mentis was the main architect of this productive first half of the game for the Victoire, first with her speed, then her tenacity.

Her speed allowed her to escape after taking a long pass from Anna Wilgren and open the scoring at 4:53 of the first period with a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

Her tenacity led directly to Dalton’s goal at 2:26 of the second period.

Despite pressure from rivals behind Campbell’s net, Grant-Mentis managed to hold on to the puck until she found Dalton, who was left exposed in the slot.

A precise backhand pass from Grant-Mentis and a quick one-timer from Dalton made it 2-0 in favour of the Victoire.

After Poulin’s spectacular goal at 7:48 of the second period, the Victoire’s three-goal lead lasted just 41 seconds.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews