Lina Ljungblom scored twice as the Montreal Victoire defeated the visiting New York Sirens 6-2 on Saturday afternoon for its sixth straight Professional Women’s Hockey League win.
The six goals were a season high for Montreal, with four coming in the first period before a sellout crowd of 10,172 at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
Ljungblom’s goals came in the first for the Victoire (9-3-1-2). Abby Boreen, Mariah Keopple, Mikyla Grant-Mentis and captain Marie-Philip Poulin, with her league-leading 11th of the season, had the other Montreal goals.
Ann-Renée Desbiens made 29 saves to earn her league-leading ninth win of the season.
Montreal, playing its first game since Feb. 2, extended its lead atop the PWHL standings to eight points over second-place Minnesota. The Victoire also has two games in hand.
WATCH | Keopple’s early goal holds up as winner:
Mariah Keopple scored one of six goals for the Victoire, and PWHL-leading Montreal dominated the Sirens, 6-2.
Ella Shelton and Jessie Eldridge scored second-period goals for New York (4-3-2-7), which lost its fourth straight game. Sarah Fillier, selected with the first overall pick by New York in last June’s PWHL draft, collected two assists to move atop league scoring with 17 points in 16 games.
Sirens starting goalie Corinne Schroeder was pulled after giving up four goals on just seven shots in the first. Kayle Osborne came into the game to start the second and made 14 saves.
New York played its third straight game without veteran forward Alex Carpenter. The 30-year-old American, who leads the Sirens in goals with six, is out of the lineup with an upper-body injury suffered against Boston on Jan. 31.
WATCH | Poulin’s league-leading 11th goal of the season:
While teammate Jennifer Gardiner did most of the work with a beautiful pass, Marie-Philip Poulin’s goal was the highlight of Monteal’s 6-2 win over New York.
Takeaways
Victoire: Montreal won its second consecutive game against New York. The win also allowed Montreal to avenge its 4-1 home defeat to New York on Dec. 4, the Victoire’s lone regulation loss thus far this season.
Sirens: Fillier continued to rack up points against Montreal. The 24-year-old Georgetown, Ont., native has six points (two goals, four assists) in just three games against the Victoire this season.
WATCH | Desbiens robs Sirens’ Elizabeth Giguere:
No stop was prettier of Ann-Renee Desbiens’ 28 saves against the New York Sirens than this one on Elizabeth Giguere.
Key moment
After opening the scoring for Montreal earlier in the first, Ljungblom tipped a point shot from Amanda Boulier past Schroeder’s glove hand with just over a minute remaining in the period to give the Victoire a 4-0 lead.
Key stat
The Victoire’s four-goal first set a PWHL record for the most tallies scored by a single team in the opening frame.
Up next
Victoire: Host the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday.
Sirens: Host the Boston Fleet on Monday.
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