Poulin has goal and assist as Victoire beat Sceptres 3-1

MONTREAL (AP) — Marie-Philip Poulin had a goal and an assist to lead the Montreal Victoire to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Sceptres on Tuesday night.

Jennifer Gardiner and Laura Stacey also scored for Montreal, which snapped a two-game skid. Ann-Renee Desbiens finished with 24 saves.

Jesse Compher scored her eighth of the season for Toronto, and Kristen Campbell had 21 saves. The Sceptres had won six straight.

With 4:54 left in the second period, Cayla Barnes chipped the puck to Poulin, who created space and fired a shot off the post and in to give Montreal a 2-1 lead. It was her league-leading 12th goal and league-leading fifth game-winning goal.

Desbiens made a point-blank save on Natalie Spooner in the final minute. The puck was cleared and Stacey won a foot race to negate the icing and seal the win with an empty-netter.

Toronto opened the scoring 4:10 into the game on its first shot on goal. After a turnover in the offensive zone, Renata Fast started a 3-on-2 going the other way and Compher scored with a wrist shot past Desbiens for her eighth of the season, and fourth against the Victoire in four games.

Montreal tied it early in the second as Poulin won a board battle for the puck and passed it to Stacey, who quickly got the puck to Gardiner at the side of the net for a one-timer past Campbell.

Toronto was without the PWHL’s leading scorer Hannah Miller. The team said she is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Takeaways

Sceptres: Entering a week off and without Miller, Toronto failed to score a power-play goal for the first time in 10 games.

Victoire: Montreal’s top line of Gardiner, Stacey and Poulin combined for three goals on 11 shots.

Key moment

After Desbiens stopped Spooner in the final minute, the puck was cleared leading to Stacey’s empty-net goal.

Key stat

Montreal’s game-winning goal was Gardiner’s fourth goal of the season and Stacey and Poulin both recorded their fourth assists on the play at 4:01 of the period.

Up next

The Sceptres host Montreal on March 6, and the Victoire host Boston on Saturday.

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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey