Through their first two contests this season, PWHL Montreal has been able to get the better of PWHL Ottawa, handing them a pair of 1-goal defeats. On January Ann-Sophie Bettez was the hero in Overtime for Montreal, and in the January 27^th showdown, Maureen Murphy and Ann-Renée Desbiens took center stage. Since the last showdown, Ottawa has won one of their past 5 games, with Montreal treading water with 2 wins and 2 losses stretch. As has been the standard, Ottawa would play Emerance Maschmeyer (She’s played in every Ottawa game) and Montreal would roll with Desbiens.

               Montreal came out strong to start the game, and just before the midway point in the first period, Tereza Vanišová would score with assists from Laura Stacey and Marie-Philip Poulin. Ottawa would respond almost immediately with Akane Shiga scoring her first of the year with assists from Natalie Snodgrass and Lexie Adzija. The two teams would see roughly equal shot totals the rest of the first period, but neither team would end the first frame with the lead. The first half of the second period would see an increase in north and south action, but neither team would manage to register another goal. It would take until just past the 18-minute mark of the period for either team to score a goal. Claire Dalton would make it 2-1 shorthanded with an assist from Kati Tabin. Early in the third period, Montreal would use their speed in transition to extend their lead to 3-1 following a goal by Bettez from Sarah Bujold. Less than 3 minutes later, Daryl Watts would pull the game within one on assists from Kateřina Mrázová and Brianne Jenner. Just before the halfway point in the third period, Dalton would score her second goal of the game, tipping a shot from Erin Ambrose from outside the slot (additional assist by Poulin). 90-seconds into a 5-3 power play, Ottawa would draw the game within one following a great release by Mrázová (assists by Tejralová and Watts). Three minutes later, Ottawa would fail to get the puck out of their zone, and Dalton would bite them for the third time in the game to record her first career hat trick. Not long after the hat trick goal, Maureen Murphy would score on the empty net to extend Montreal’s lead to 6-3.

               For Montreal, this was a massive win that they needed. Claire Dalton emerging as another primary goal scorer for this group only adds to their foreboding presence atop the league. Marie-Philip Poulin recording another 3 assists in the game has almost become the norm for her at the midway point in the PWHL season. For Ottawa, Watts and Mrázová finding their grooves in a multi-point game is great, but that is the only silver lining of the team’s 9^th defeat this season. After this, Ottawa will test their meddle against New York, with Montreal scheduled to meet with Boston again at the start of March.