Victoire look to keep winning streak alive against Sceptres on TSN
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Marie-Philip Poulin and the Montreal Victoire are going for their fourth straight win tonight as they take on the Toronto Sceptres at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Watch the Victoire take on the Sceptres LIVE at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN4 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Victoire are coming off a 2-1 shootout win over the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday as goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stole the game for Montreal with 40 saves, also turning aside all five Frost attempts in the shootout while Poulin had the winner.
Desbiens continues to cement her case as PWHL goaltender of the year. She leads all goalies in save percentage (.938), goals-against average (1.70) and wins (12) as the Victoire sit atop the PWHL standings with 41 points, seven points ahead of the second-place Boston Fleet.
Poulin also leads the league in goals this season with 12, one ahead of Boston’s Hilary Knight (11).
The Sceptres had the week off, with their last game coming on Feb. 25, also against Montreal. The Victoire picked up the 3-1 victory as Desbiens made 24 saves while Poulin and Laura Stacey had a goal and an assist each.
Prior to the loss, Toronto had ripped off a six-game winning streak, which included reigning PWHL MVP Natalie Spooner returning to the lineup after being off since last May due to knee surgery. In five games since coming back, she has one assist and 11 shots on goal.
Hannah Miller continues to pile up the points for Toronto this season, leading the PWHL with 22 in 20 games while scoring 10 goals. In 23 games last season with Toronto, she had seven goals and 14 points.
The Victoire will be contending with the league’s best power play in Toronto, which is operating at 32.8 per cent, scoring 21 goals with the advantage. In contrast, Montreal’s power play has struggled this season at only 15.9 per cent but have fared better on the penalty kill at 82.5 per cent.
In four meetings against each other this season, Montreal has won every game, a reversal of last year when Toronto swept all five games against the Victoire.