Goldeneyes Hold on for 4-3 Win and 3 Draft Order Points Despite Scamurra's Late Hat Trick
PWHL Vancouver Goldeneyes

Goldeneyes Hold on for 4-3 Win and 3 Draft Order Points Despite Scamurra's Late Hat Trick

Published on April 22, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Vancouver Goldeneyes News Release


VANCOUVER, BC - The Vancouver Goldeneyes handed the Montréal Victoire their first regulation defeat in 17 games, holding on for a 4-3 win in front of the Pacific Coliseum home crowd of 10,946 despite a dramatic late surge from the first-place team. Hayley Scamurra scored all three of the Victoire's goals with an extra attacker in just two minutes and 44 seconds within the game's final eight minutes for a new PWHL record. The Goldeneyes were able to withstand the late push to secure three valuable 'draft order points' towards the battle to earn the first overall draft pick. Sophie Jaques tallied an assist on Claire Thompson's fourth Vancouver goal to become the first defender in PWHL history to reach 50 career points, while Tereza Vanišová contributed a goal and two assists for her first three-point performance in a Goldeneyes uniform. Through more than 52 minutes of play, Vancouver was the only team on the board, with goals coming off a redirect from Sarah Nurse at 15:12 of the first frame, a power-play marker from Ashton Bell at 9:25 of the second period, a driving play from Vanišová just 1:31 into the third, and a one-timer from Thompson at 5:06 of the final frame. All three of Scamurra's goals were redirections in front of the net, with rookie defender Nicole Gosling tallying the secondary assist on each of the markers and Erin Ambrose being credited with the primary on two. Kristen Campbell held on to stop 25/28 for the win, while Sandra Abstreiter turned away 18/22 in defeat.

Both teams play their final games on Saturday in the final day of 2025-26 regular season action. Vancouver looks to build on their three 'draft order points' with a home date with Minnesota, competing for the first overall pick with Seattle who has one point and a game in hand. Montréal will await tomorrow's result between Boston and Ottawa to see where they stand in the battle for first place when they visit Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena to close out the league's schedule.

QUOTES

Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski on his team's fight to come away with a win: "Proud of the group and the fact that people were showing up and competing and playing hard for each other. That's a huge plus. I thought our response throughout was pretty darn good. Adversity builds character, so we've got plenty of that."

Goldeneyes defender and alternate captain Claire Thompson on the third period: "I think when we look back at the third, there are a few minutes there where we really didn't stick to our team identity, but I also think that there were a lot of good things that happened in the beginning part of that period. At the very end, obviously that's something we have to look back on. We need to fight more in front of Soupy (Kristen Campbell), we need to block those pucks coming in from the point. I was proud of our group to hold out till the end."

Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on the team making a comeback late in the game: "We put pucks to the net. We were playing desperate hockey. And against a good team like Vancouver, you have to play that way for the whole time, all 60 minutes, and I just didn't think we had it for the first part of the game."

Victoire defender Erin Ambrose on the experience this will give the team ahead of the playoffs: "Being able to practice that, we haven't had a ton of six on five. We have a lot of five on six, so those situations are going to come up during playoffs. So for us to be able to get those reps, and obviously not just reps, but some success on it, unfortunately we couldn't get a fourth. But to get three is pretty big, and especially those two quick ones felt really good for our group. And obviously we knew what was kind of working, so put it in the area, and Scams (Hayley Scamurra) will tip it."

NOTABLES

Vancouver has won three straight games for the first time in team history. The 14 goals scored across the three games are the most by any team in a three-game stretch this season.

The Goldeneyes have scored at least four goals in nine games this season, including four of their last five games and six of the 12 played at Pacific Coliseum.

Montréal wins the season series 9-3 in points, outscoring Vancouver 11-6 in four games. The Goldeneyes scored more goals tonight than in the first three games combined.

The Victoire's record point streak ends at 16 games, suffering their first regulation loss since a 2-1 defeat against the Sirens in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 18.

Montréal has played in 15 one-goal games this season, tied for most in the league with Boston and Toronto. Their five one-goal losses in regulation are most in the PWHL.

This was just the third time the Victoire have surrendered four goals in a game, losing 4-3 in each instance. This was their first time allowing more than two goals against in 10 games, last doing so on Mar. 15 in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Fleet.

Vancouver had the fewest games of any team scoring first, doing so just seven times before tonight, but improved their league-best record to 7-0-0-1 when getting on the board first.

Tereza Vanišová's three-point performance (1G, 2A) was her first as a Goldeneye and third all-time, with both of her previous feats in three-goal efforts last season for Ottawa. The Czech forward has produced multi-point performances in both of Montréal's visits to Pacific Coliseum, tallying two assists in their first game on Dec. 20. Her 15 points (4G, 11A) brings her career point total to 49 (21G, 28A), one away from joining the half-century club in her third season.

Hayley Scamurra set a PWHL record for the fastest three goals by a player in 2:46 and became the first player in PWHL history to score a hat trick for a losing team. This was the sixth hat trick of the 2025-26 season, 19th all-time, and first by a Victoire player since Marie-Philip Poulin on Jan. 29, 2025. The U.S. Olympic gold medalist has 16 points (8G, 8A) in 29 games, with six of those points coming against Vancouver (5G, 1A), including the only two multi-goal games of her career.

Sophie Jaques became the first defender in PWHL history to record 50 career points (17G, 33A) and the 17th skater in the league overall, doing so in her 76th regular season game. The Canadian defender's 18 points on the campaign leads the Goldeneyes in scoring while moving her into a tie for second among PWHL blue liners.

Sarah Nurse matched her points total from her 2024-25 campaign in Toronto in three fewer games, scoring her eighth goal and 14th point of the season in her 18th game. Vancouver's alternate captain has points in three straight games (2G, 1A), her longest stretch since her five-game streak to start her season.

Ashton Bell's second goal of the season came as her first career power-play marker. Vancouver's captain has had her most productive stretch of the season with three points (1G, 2A) in the last three games, accounting for half of her season total (2G, 4A). The defender has matched her points total from last season and is one away from the seven points (2G, 5A) she recorded during the inaugural season in Ottawa.

Claire Thompson's fourth goal of the season matched her career-high from last season with the Frost, the defender's first in the PWHL. The tally was the alternate captain's 17th point of the campaign one shy of her career high, moving her into second in team scoring behind Jaques and tied for fifth among the league's blue liners.

Kristen Campbell became the third goaltender in PWHL history to win 30 career games with her fifth victory in her 11th start and 13th appearance for the Goldeneyes. She surrendered more than two goals for the first time since allowing three against Ottawa on Mar. 14. Outside of her first start for Vancouver on Nov. 29, the Canadian netminder has not given up more than three goals in an outing, holding a 2.17 goals-against average and .913 save percentage on the campaign.

Nicole Gosling extended her point streak to five games (1G, 6A) and eight straight road games (1G, 9A) with the first three-point game of her career (3A). The rookie defender, who celebrated her 24th birthday today, is up to 18 points on the campaign, leapfrogging her into a tie for second in the rookie scoring race, while her 15 assists are tied for the most among first-year skaters and on the Victoire (also Laura Stacey).

Erin Ambrose tallied her first multi-point performance of the campaign with two assists and her first points since returning from the Olympics and long-term injured reserve. Montréal's alternate captain went six games without a point - the longest stretch of her career - after last finding the scoresheet on Jan. 24.

Nina Jobst-Smith recorded points in back-to-back games for the first time in her PWHL career with an assist in each of the last two games, after going 14 games without a point. The rookie defender is coming off a four-shot game on Saturday, tied for her second most of the season behind the six shots she recorded on Mar. 29 against Toronto.

Michelle Karvinen has tallied points in back-to-back games (2A) for the first time since recording a point in each of the Goldeneyes three games before the Olympic break (2G, 1A). The forward is up to nine points (3G, 6A) in her first PWHL season.

Abby Boreen got on the scoresheet against her former team for the first time tonight with an assist, after being held without in the first three matchups this season. Her two assists in the last two games marked her first point streak as a Goldeneye, a feat she accomplished twice last year in Montréal.

Anna Meixner's assist tonight brought her points total with Vancouver to four (1G, 3A) across 16 games, double the two goals she scored in 13 games with Ottawa to start the season. The Austrian forward had two points (1G, 1A) in 28 games for the Charge last season.

Lina Ljungblom stretched her point streak to four games (1G, 4A), doubling her previous career high with an assist tonight. The only other time the Swedish forward recorded points in back-to-back contests was Mar. 12-18, 2025 with two assists for the Victoire. Her five shots on goal tonight is a career-high and tied Scamurra for most in the game.

SandraAbstreiter made her fifth start of the season (2-1-0-2), allowing four goals for the second time in a Victoire jersey, both of which resulted in regulation losses despite accounting for the two fewest shot totals of her season. The German netminder holds a 2.62 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage on the season to date.

Stacey's two shots on target brought her season total to 113, surpassing her own PWHL single-season record of 112 set last season. The alternate captain's six-game point streak (2G, 5A) was tied for the longest of the season but snapped one shy of Alex Carpenter's league record.

Mellissa Channell-Watkins suited up for the 100th game of her PWHL career, including playoffs, with her 29th appearance as a Goldeneye following 53 with Minnesota and 18 postseason games across the Frost's back-to-back title runs.

Sini Karjalainen made her PWHL debut after being activated from the Goldeneyes' Reserve Player List on Apr. 17. The Finnish defender signed with Vancouver after producing 13 points in 36 games with the SDHL's Skellefteå AIK and playing alongside Karvinen at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Izzy Daniel was scratched from the Goldeneyes lineup for a second straight game with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day.

THREE STARS

Tereza Vanišová (VAN) 1G, 2A

Hayley Scamurra (MTL) 3G

Ashton Bell (MTL) 1G

STANDINGS

Montréal: 60 PTS (16-5-2-6) - 1st Place

Vancouver: 35 PTS (9-2-4-14) -7thPlace

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

Vancouver: Saturday, Apr. 25 vs. Minnesota at 4 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET

Montréal: Saturday, Apr. 25 at Seattle at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central