Montréal Defeats Boston 3-2 in Overtime as PWHL Surpasses One Million Fans in 2025-26 Season

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LAVAL, QC (April 17, 2026) – In the fourth and final matchup of the season series, Nicole Gosling secured the Montréal Victoire a 3-2 overtime win against the Boston Fleet before a sold-out crowd of 10,172 at Place Bell Friday night, bringing PWHL attendance over one million fans for the first time in a single season in league history. The rookie defender iced the game on the power play 38 seconds into the extra frame, walking up towards the blue line and ripping a shot down the middle for the game winner. Jade Downie-Landry opened the scoring for the Victoire, tapping the puck in with a one-handed reach following an offensive zone turnover at 2:59 of the first period. Kaitlin Willoughby followed three minutes later, securing a rebound, then pushing it to her forehand before finding the back of the net. Jessie Eldridge cut the Fleet’s deficit to one with a deflection that went five-hole at 18:51 of the second period. Daniela Pejšová tied it up for Boston, ripping the puck from the weak side at 9:41 of the third period. Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 26 of 28 shots on goal for her 18th win of the season, while Abbey Levy turned away 28 of 31 in the loss. With the two points earned in tonight’s win, Montréal has secured home ice advantage in the semifinal round of the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, while Boston’s one point moves them within one of clinching the same, as they hold a nine-point lead over third-place Minnesota. The Victoire can clinch first place with four points (including one regulation win) in their final two road games against Vancouver on Tuesday and Seattle next Saturday. The Fleet remains in contention for first place and will finish their season with home games against Ottawa on Wednesday and New York on Saturday.

QUOTES

Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on the team losing a two-goal lead: “We know what to expect against a team like Boston. You score early, you’d love to hold the lead for the whole game, but against a good team like that, it’s going to be tight checking. We had opportunities to actually go ahead three goals, and that would have been great at that time, but I thought our group battled through. Even though it felt like at times it wasn’t our best moments, I still thought our group battled through.”

Victoire forward Kaitlin Willoughby on the team coming out strong: “I think it took everyone in the locker room tonight. We knew that Boston was going to bring everything they had, and it was a very physical game. Every time we stepped on the ice, we wanted to bring our best, and I think we all had that mindset. It took the whole team tonight, and I thought we did really good. Even though there were some ebbs and flows in the game where they had the momentum, we just kept pushing, and we just believed in ourselves.”

Boston Head Coach Kris Sparre on Abbey Levy’s performance in the second period: “Abbey did a great job. She hung in there as they had some really big opportunities in the second period. It was nice to see us claw back in the game.”

Fleet goaltender Abbey Levy on her ability to regroup after the first period: “You just have to be a goalie, it’s going to happen. You can have bad nights to start, but you have to bounce back, let it go, and move forward. We have a very tight-knit group,p and anything they say to me is just positive reinforcement. They’re amazing and lift me up. They’re great humans and were so helpful.”

NOTABLES

Tonight’s sold-out crowd of 10,172 put the PWHL over one million fans in a single season for the first time in league history, with 1,006,928 in 109 games. The milestone was reached in 46 fewer games than the league’s first million fans across its first two seasons.

Montréal is the first team in PWHL history to reach 60 points in a season. They set a team record with their seventh straight win, outscoring opponents 20-4 during the streak, and extended their PWHL record point streak to 16 games (11-3-2-0) since Jan. 21.

The Victoire finished the home portion of their 2025-26 regular season with 11 wins in 12 games at Place Bell (9-2-1-0), with their only loss against the Fleet in overtime on Mar. 15. They also scored three or more goals in all but one game at their primary home venue. Counting games at the Bell Centre and Vidéotron Centre, the Victoire earned 35 of a possible 42 points in 14 games played in Québec, the most points by any PWHL team in a province or state in league history.

The Fleet finished the road portion of their 2025-26 regular season with a 7-4-3-3 record, including two Takeover Tour games as the home team in Detroit and Halifax. Their 32 points in 17 games away from Massachusetts are the most by any PWHL team outside their state or province in league history.

Boston and Montréal tied the season series 6-6 in points, with the Fleet outscoring the Victoire 8-7 across four games. Montréal leads the all-time series 23-19 in points. Nine of their 14 all-time games have gone to extra time, the most in any PWHL matchup in league history.

Tonight marked the second game of the season series that required an extra frame, both of which came at the Place Bell. Boston won the first overtime matchup in a 4-3 comeback win. Montréal earned their third win in overtime (3-2), while the Fleet was handed their first loss in overtime this season (2-1).

The Fleet played their 15th one-goal game of the season (4-5-3-3), surpassing Toronto for the most in the PWHL. Their team high remains 16, recorded during the inaugural season, when they went 6-4-3-3. Boston and Montréal have now played 11 one-goal games of 14 matchups in the all-time series.

Montréal scored their first opening-period goal since last hosting Boston at Place Bell on Mar. 15, nine games ago. The Victoire now have 20 goals in the first frame, ranked third behind the Frost (30) and the Fleet (22).

The Victoire have held the lead through two periods in 16 of their 27 games this season, with 15 wins and just one loss in such instances.

Nicole Gosling extended her point streak to four consecutive games, the longest of her rookie campaign, with her first career power-play goal and overtime winner. She reached 15 points on the season (3G, 12A), just the fourth rookie and fifth defender to do so. The former Clarkson Golden Knight finished the season series with one goal and three assists, tied for the team lead. She is also the 11th different Victoire skater to score on the player advantage this season, tied with Minnesota (2024-25) for the most in a single season.

Jade Downie-Landry notched her second goal and point of the season after 11-straight games without a tally, and is the 20th member of the Victoire to record multiple points this season. The veteran forward has 21 points in 75 career games (14G, 7A), 19 of which she recorded as a member of the Sirens across the last two seasons.

Kaitlin Willoughby has now scored three goals in her last four games, after going 74 regular-season games without. The third-year forward’s six points in 28 games this season tripled her two points (2A) in her first 50 career games with Toronto and Montréal.

Jessie Eldridge’s goal has made her first point streak since joining the Fleet (3G, 1A), and her sixth goal in as many games. She reached 20 points (13G, 7A) in consecutive seasons after recording a career-high of 24 in 30 games with New York (9G, 15A). The veteran forward is one goal shy of 30 for her career, a milestone achieved by only two players (Marie-Philip Poulin and Daryl Watts).

Daniela Pejšová recorded her second career goal for her fourth point of the season, reaching a new career-high that eclipsed her three points (3A) in 28 games as a rookie last season. The Czech defender has earned three of her points in her last 10 games following a single point in her first 15. All three of her points before tonight came in games against Seattle.

Ann-Renée Desbiens became the first PWHL goaltender to reach 40 career wins, doing so in her 61st appearance. She has just one loss at Place Bell this season, in overtime against Boston on Mar. 15, and has posted six-straight wins for the second time in her career. The Montréal netminder moved back into a tie with Aerin Frankel, who remained in Boston for tonight’s game for rest and maintenance, for the league lead with 18 wins in 24 games this season.

Laura Stacey matched the longest point streak in the league this season, and of her career, registering a point in her sixth consecutive game (2G, 5A). She tied her career-high for points with 22, moving into fourth in the PWHL, with 15 of those points tallied in Place Bell (5G, 10A). Tonight was just the second time the Victoire alternate captain did not have a shot on goal in her career (Feb. 18, 2024), remaining one shy of tying her own single-season record of 112.

Abby Roque has assisted in her last two home games, bringing her season total to 14 helpers. She recorded her 21st point in 27 games, moving into a seven-way tie for fifth in the league. After a three-game pointless drought starting on Mar. 25, the right-handed forward has three points in her last four games for Montréal and finished the season series with four points (1G, 3A). She led all skaters tonight with six shots on goal, matching her career high reached three times, including Mar. 15 against Boston.

Lina Ljungblom is riding a career-high three-game point streak, with half of her season’s eight points added during that span (1G, 3A). She previously tallied her first four points in the first 13 games of the season. The assist marked her fourth this season, good for a new career high in 10 fewer games than her rookie campaign.

Alexandra Labelle set a new career-high with her fourth assist of the season in her 26th game, eclipsing her three assists in 19 games during 2024-25, and has also matched her career-high of four points. The Québec native has two points in her last three games after going seven games without.

Megan Keller set a new career-high in assists with her 12th of the season and led all skaters in the head-to-head series with five points (2G, 3A). The Fleet captain is one point shy of 20 for the season and ranks first in all-time points by a defender with 47 in 82 career games.

Haley Winn’s 14th assist brings her rookie total to 18 points, second among league defenders behind Keller’s 19. The Boston teammates are within reach of 20 points on the season, a mark which only three PWHL blue liners have eclipsed in league history: Sophie Jaques (22 in 2024-25), Renata Fast (22 in 2024-25), and Ella Shelton (21 in 2024). Her assists total is two away from the rookie record of 16 set by Sarah Fillier last season.

Liz Schepers tallied her second assist and seventh point in 27 games this season, good for a new career-high point total, after recording six points (2G, 4A) in the same number of games with Minnesota in 2024-25.

Shay Maloney has points in consecutive road games for Boston, with an assist in each matchup. Her secondary helper made her first point against Montréal in 10 career matchups. The 2024 PWHL draft pick is two shy of her rookie output of nine points in 30 games.

Abbey Levy has made three starts for the first time since the inaugural season with New York, making more than 25 saves and posting a save percentage of .903 or greater in each appearance as a member of the Fleet.

Laura Kluge was left off the Fleet lineup for a second consecutive game due to an upper-body injury, missing her third game of the season for Boston.

THREE STARS

1.  Nicole Gosling (MTL) OT GWG
2.  Kaitlin Willoughby (MTL) 1G
3.  Daniela Pejšová (BOS) 1G

STANDINGS

Montréal: 60 PTS (16-5-2-5) – 1st Place
Boston: 58 PTS (15-5-3-5) – 2nd Place

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

Montréal: Tuesday, Apr. 21 at Vancouver at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
Boston: Wednesday, Apr. 22 vs. Ottawa at 7 p.m. ET

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