“Duel at the Top” presented by Rogers
MONTREAL, QC (April 20, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will have its busiest day of the regular-season on Saturday with three games, beginning with Montréal against Toronto at 1:00 p.m. ET inside the Bell Centre, in the highly anticipated “Duel at the Top” presented by Rogers.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans across Canada can watch the game live on CBC, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and streamed on CBC Gem. The game is available in the United States on NESN+ and Sportsnet Pittsburgh Plus, and on the league’s YouTube channel. Andi Petrillo will host in studio alongside analysts Hailey Salvian and Saroya Tinker. Daniella Ponticelli will have the play-by-play call with analyst Becky Kellar and Signa Butler reporting from rinkside. French coverage is available on RDS beginning with a special pre-game show at 12:30 p.m. ET live from the Bell Centre with a studio panel hosted by Andrée-Anne Barbeau with analysts Karell Emard and Stéphanie Poirier. Claudine Douville will have the play-by-play call with analyst Isabelle Leclaire and Catherine Savoie reporting from rinkside. In addition to the broadcast and streaming options, the game will be available on radio via TSN 690 and Cogeco 98,5.
TODAY’S PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
Toronto needs just one point to officially clinch a berth in the PWHL Playoffs, which they can earn by virtue of a win or an overtime/shootout loss against Montréal. They can also clinch if Boston does not beat New York in regulation. Montréal can clinch with a win over Toronto combined with a New York win over Boston. They can also clinch if they beat Toronto in regulation and Boston earns two points or less against New York. Minnesota has three ways they can clinch their playoff spot, including a win over Ottawa in regulation, a win over Ottawa in overtime or shootout combined with Boston earning two points or less against New York, or if they lose in overtime or a shootout to Ottawa but Boston also loses to New York in any fashion.
BACK AT THE BELL CENTRE
The Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens, is the sixth NHL venue to host a PWHL game this season. Prior to the PWHL, the North American record for a regular-season professional women’s hockey game was 5,938, established December 10, 2016, at the Bell Centre in a CWHL game between Les Canadiennes de Montréal and the Calgary Inferno. Les Canadiennes won the game 1-0 on a goal by Marie-Philip Poulin. Montréal’s Ann-Sophie Bettez, Sarah Lefort and Toronto’s Lauriane Rougeau also suited up for Les Canadiennes, and Toronto’s Blayre Turnbull played for the Inferno. The CWHL returned to the Bell Centre on November 12, 2017, when Les Canadiennes hosted the Kunlun Red Star. This season, members of PWHL Montréal, including Poulin, Lefort, Erin Ambrose, Sarah Bujold, Mariah Keopple, Maureen Murphy, and Laura Stacey participated in the Habs Skills Competition at the Bell Centre on February 25.
At today’s game, world-renowned Montréal entertainment lighting innovator and PWHL partner PixMob will bring its fan-favourite immersive crowd-lighting experience to the Bell Centre. PixMob has already engaged more than 14,000 fans at the league’s three Canadian home openers with its industry-leading LED wearables.
NEW WOMEN’S HOCKEY ATTENDANCE RECORD
Today’s game at the Bell Centre will set a new women’s hockey attendance record, surpassing the crowd of 19,285 at Scotiabank Arena on February 16 for the “Battle on Bay Street” between these two teams. The previous record of 18,013 stood for over 10 years, set on April 5, 2013 in Ottawa during the IIHF Women’s World Championship for a preliminary round matchup between Canada and Finland. The game featured Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin, and Toronto’s Jocelyne Larocque, Lauriane Rougeau, and Natalie Spooner. Montréal has been part of numerous PWHL attendance records this season, beginning January 2 against Ottawa where a crowd of 8,318 set the professional women’s hockey attendance record at The Arena at TD Place. Four days later, on January 6, Montréal visited Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Center where a new attendance record was set with a crowd of 13,316.
SETTING THE STAGE
The final regular-season chapter between Canadian rivals will be written in hockey’s greatest cathedral with the “Duel at the Top” inside Bell Centre. First place is on the line with Toronto (10-3-0-7) currently holding top spot with 36 points and Montréal (8-3-4-5) in third with 34 points. Minnesota sits in between with 35 points. This is the second game for both teams following the International Break. On Thursday night, Montréal won an epic comeback over Minnesota, 4-3 at Verdun Auditorium, where they scored two goals in the final three minutes. The victory snapped a season-high four-game losing streak that included two losses to Toronto. Also on Thursday, Toronto dropped its second straight game on the heels of a league-high 11 straight wins with a 2-1 loss in Boston. Toronto has won all four games against Montréal this season, and Toronto is the only team in the league that Montréal has not beat. Montréal is one of the league’s best teams on home ice where they’ve won six times and earned 19 points in nine games between Verdun and Place Bell. Despite Thursday’s loss, Toronto is still the league’s best road team with six wins and 16 points in 10 games. Montréal’s offensive output on Thursday was just the fourth time all season they’ve scored four goals, while Toronto’s offense was uncharacteristically low having scored two or more goals in all but five games. Toronto holds the league’s best penalty kill but watch out for Montréal’s powerplay, which converted three times on Thursday.
THE SEASON SERIES THROUGH FOUR GAMES
Toronto has dominated the season series with Montréal earning four wins and 11 of a possible 12 points. The teams played just one other time in Montréal, back on Jan. 20, resulting in a 4-3 shootout decision at Verdun Auditorium. Toronto recorded back-to-back 3-0 shutouts against their rival on Feb. 16 at the historic Battle on Bay Street at Scotiabank Arena and on International Women’s Day on Mar. 8 at Mattamy Athletic Centre. Their latest encounter was Mar. 17 at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena where Toronto won by a 2-1 score. Hannah Miller, who leads the season series with three goals and four points, and Kali Flanagan scored for Toronto in that contest and Kristin O’Neill got her first goal of the season for Montréal. Kristen Campbell has been rock-solid between-the-pipes in all four games with a .958 save percentage. Ann-Renée Desbiens has started three of four games for Montréal and her 36-save performance on home ice counts as her second strongest appearance of the season statistically.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The league’s scoring leaders go head-to-head today with Montréal captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Toronto’s Natalie Spooner locked at 20 points apiece. Spooner leads the league with 15 goals in 20 games but was held off the scoresheet Thursday to snap a six-game point streak. Poulin leads the league with a 1.18 points-per-game average and delivered a three-point performance on Thursday in her first taste of PWHL action since the teams played each other Mar. 8. Both players are among 12 Canadian gold medallists from the recent Women’s World Championship. Montréal’s Laura Stacey (8G 6A) and Erin Ambrose (3G 11A) are among them and are tied for second in team scoring with 14 points. Stacey had a season-high three points on Thursday and Ambrose became the first in the PWHL to record four points to take over the scoring lead among defenders. Kristin O’Neill also had her best game of the season with two goals, including the game winner, after being named one of Canada’s Best Players in Utica. Ann-Renée Desbiens was also recognized for her performance at Worlds, where she set an all-time Canadian record with 20 career tournament wins. Toronto’s Sarah Nurse (5G 10A) and Emma Maltais (3G 10A) rank second and third in team scoring with 15 and 13 points respectively. Hannah Miller (6G 4A) and Renata Fast (3G 7A) are tied for fourth with 10 points. Fast led Canada in scoring at Worlds with six points which helped earn her the Best Defender award and a spot on the tournament’s All-Star team.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“In 2017 when we played here, it was surreal. It was a dream that happened, and you jump out on that ice, you look up and see empty seats. But you hope that one day it will be packed. Being able to be in that historic moment here at the Bell Centre is going to be unbelievable. In terms of women’s hockey being able to fill that ice is going to be surreal.” – Marie-Philip Poulin, Montréal
“It’ll be great to play at the Bell Centre and experience the atmosphere. It’s been great to play in front of all these big crowds this season, and this time, our fans have a chance to show that they’re the loudest.” – Kori Cheverie, Montréal
“I’m super excited to play at the Bell Centre. I’ve grown up watching the Habs play and fuel my passion for hockey. Sharing this moment with my family is a dream. They get to watch the highest level of women’s hockey in an arena that has seen great athletes perform. Playing in front of a sold-out crowd will be electric. The atmosphere at the Bell Centre is unmatched and it will be a moment that I will cherish forever.” – Lauriane Rougeau, Toronto
“Our entire program is excited to be part of this amazing game at the Bell Centre. The standings are so tight, but this is a great setting to have a battle for first place in the PWHL. We are excited to put on a good show for our PWHL supporters and show our appreciation for them through our play.” – Troy Ryan, Toronto
QUICK HITS
Toronto (+8) is second in goal differential and Montréal (even) is tied for third…Toronto (2.55) is second in goals-per-game average and Montréal (2.40) ranks fourth…Toronto (2.15) have allowed the second fewest goals-per-game and Montréal (2.40) allows the third fewest on average…Both Toronto and Montréal lead the league having scored the game’s first goal 12 times, with Toronto winning 10 of those games compared to nine wins for Montréal…Toronto’s strongest offensive period is the third with 21 goals, Montréal has scored 18 goals in both the first and third period…Montréal has the most one-goal wins with eight in 13 games, Toronto has six wins in eight one-goal decisions…Toronto (+48) is second in shot differential and Montréal (-53) ranks fifth…Toronto (28.00) is tied for third in shots-per-game average and Montréal (27.55) ranks fifth…Toronto (25.55) allows the fewest shots-per-game and Montréal (30.30) allows the second most on average…Toronto has outshot its opponents 13 times and Montréal 10 times…Montréal (6.90) averages the second most penalty minutes per game and Toronto (6.30) averages the third most…Toronto (7/56) is third in powerplay efficiency at 12.5%…Montréal (8/66) ranks fourth on the PP at 12.1%…Toronto (54/58) is first in penalty kill efficiency at 93.1%…Montréal (52/64) ranks fifth on the PK at 81.3%…Natalie Spooner (TOR) and Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) share the scoring lead with 20 points each…Spooner leads the league with 15 goals…Poulin and Erin Ambrose (MTL) are in a five-way tie for the league-lead with 11 assists…Ambrose leads all defenders in scoring with 14 points…Spooner also leads the league with five powerplay goals…Emma Maltais (TOR) leads the league with two shorthanded goals…Claire Dalton (MTL) leads the league with a 29.4% shooting percentage…Laura Stacey (MTL) is tied for the league-lead with 82 shots on goal…Spooner is third in the league with 80 shots…Poulin (222/384) leads Montréal in face-offs and with a win-rate of 57.8%…Alexa Vasko (69/134) leads Toronto with a face-off percentage of 51.5%…Blayre Turnbull (42.7%) leads the team with 281 draws…Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) has won five of her 12 starts with a goals-against-average of 2.29 and save percentage of .919…Kristen Campbell (TOR) has won 12 of her 18 starts, leads the league with three shutouts, and carries a 2.06 GAA and .919 SV%…Allie Munroe (TOR) celebrates her 27th birthday today…Kati Tabin (MTL) celebrates her 27th birthday on Sunday…Referee Jenn Berezowski and linesperson Laura Gutauskas were among the 13 PWHL officials assigned to the Women’s World Championship.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
MONTREAL:
O’Neill | Poulin | Stacey
Dalton | Bujold | Murphy
Lefort | David | Grant-Mentis
Dubois | Dempsey | Lum
Tabin | Ambrose
Keopple | Boulier
Bizal | Daoust
Laganière
Desbiens | Chuli
Scratches: Bettez, Boissonnault, Lásková, Marchment, Poznikoff
TORONTO:
Maltais | Nurse | Connors
Miller | Turnbull | Spooner
Bach | Compher | Howard
Cogan | Vasko | Leslie
Willoughby
Larocque | Fast
Munroe | Flanagan
Rougeau | Knowles
Campbell | Howe
Scratches: Jackson, Poulin-Labelle
OFFICIALS:
Referees: Grace Barlow (Vancouver, BC) and Jenn Berezowski (Quinte West, ON).
Linespersons: Laura Gutauskas (Woolwich, ON) and Dustin McCrank (Guelph, ON).
Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus team accounts @pwhl_montreal and @pwhl_toronto.