PWHL

Marie-Philip Poulin scored the only goal of the shootout as the Montreal Victoire extended their lead atop the Professional Women’s Hockey League with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday night at Place Bell.

Montreal’s lead in 1st place now 9 points over Toronto SceptresThe Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 8:56 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Montreal Victoire goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, right, celebrates with teammate Marie-Philip Poulin after defeating the Minnesota Frost in Laval, Que., on Tuesday. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)Marie-Philip Poulin scored the only goal of the shootout as the Montreal Victoire extended their lead atop the Professional Women’s Hockey League with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday night at Place Bell.

With the win, Montreal’s lead in first place is now nine points over the second-place Toronto Sceptres with 10 games remaining.

Poulin’s winner was scored when she fired a snapshot past Maddie Rooney in front of a crowd of 8,923. Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped all five shootout attempts, sealing the win with a stop on Minnesota defender Claire Thompson.

Desbiens made a season-high 39 saves for the Victoire, including three in overtime.

Poulin leads Victoire to shootout win over Frost in Montreal

Montreal Victoire defeated Minnesota Frost 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday night to take a commanding lead in the PWHL standings.

Laura Stacey opened the scoring for Montreal with her eighth goal of the season 17 seconds into the second period. Jennifer Gardiner launched a long cross-ice pass from her own zone that Stacey won the race to, getting behind the Minnesota defence. She put a backhand past Rooney.

It was the fourth straight game Stacey scored with a goal, setting a new team record.

Minnesota tied the game with 3:42 left in the second period on the power play when Taylor Heise fired a shot from the top of the slot past Desbiens. It was the third Minnesota power play of the period, after Montreal took three penalties in a span of 5:31. It was Heise’s fifth goal of the season.

TakeawaysFrost: Minnesota came out of their mandated week off with a solid performance against the league’s top team.

Victoire: Desbiens continued her strong play and is now on a stretch of 13 straight games allowing two goals or less.

Key momentDesbiens made 11 third-period saves, including two in the final minute to send the game to overtime.

Key statMontreal defender Dominika Laskova played her first game in 402 days after suffering a lower-body injury that ended her season on Jan. 27, 2024.

Up nextFrost: Host the Ottawa Charge on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.

Victoire: Visit the Toronto Sceptres on Thursday.