New York Earns 2-1 Win over Montréal in Record-Setting Game in D.C.
PWHL Montreal Victoire

New York Earns 2-1 Win over Montréal in Record-Setting Game in D.C.

Published on January 18, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Montreal Victoire News Release


WASHINGTON, D.C. ‚ (January 18, 2026) - ‚ The PWHL made its debut in Washington, D.C. on Sunday afternoon and set a U.S. women's hockey attendance record with a crowd of 17,228 at Capital One Arena for the PWHL Takeover Tour™ presented by BJ's Wholesale Club. The game featured the New York Sirens relying on their standout rookies to guide the offense in a 2-1 win over the Montréal Victoire. First overall pick Kristýna Kaltounková added to her strong rookie campaign with her second power play goal of the season just 1:24 into the first period, bringing her goal total to eight on the season. Montréal's Maggie Flaherty made sure the Victoire got on the board in the opening frame with a power play goal of their own in the last minute of play. The Sirens reclaimed the lead in the second period at 14:47 when Anne Cherkowski scored the game-winning goal, the first of her career, when she redirected a shot from Paetyn Levis quickly off the draw. Sarah Fillier recorded her second assist of the game on the play. Ann-Renée Desbiens gave Montréal their best chance with 25 saves between the pipes in her first loss since the Victoire's matchup against the Toronto Sceptres on Dec. 27 at the Bell Centre. Kayle Osborne stood strong once again in goal, stopping 31 of 32 shots for the Sirens in her seventh win in 13 consecutive starts this season. The victory moves the Sirens into second place in the standings with points in six straight games, while Montréal drops down to fourth with their first loss in four games. The teams will meet again following the Olympic break on Feb. 26 at Prudential Center.

New York heads back home to host Ottawa on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. ET start and the first matchup against the Charge since their season opener on Nov. 22. Montréal will head out to Minnesota to face the Frost on Wednesday in a 7 p.m. ET puck drop.

QUOTES ‚

New York alternate captain Sarah Fillier on the atmosphere and crowd in Washington D.C.: "It was awesome. In the third, when they were singing along during play, it's an incredible feeling as a player to know fans are excited to show up, support women's hockey, and watch the product we put on the ice. Speaking specifically about this crowd, I don't think I've ever seen that many people at warm-ups with signs along the glass for us. You can tell there's a lot of passion in this city for sports, and especially for women's sports. It was a great crowd, and it would be awesome to come back and play here."

Sirens forward Paetyn Levis on the difference between this year's team and last year's: "Obviously, we have a completely different group, and that starts there. Some of the leaders in the locker room have stepped up, and we've matured in understanding situations like being on the power play with two minutes left-controlling the puck and being smart about how we close out games. That growth has led to us playing a more mature game late and being able to come away with tight wins."

Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on getting a penalty in the final minutes of the game with the team down by one goal: "We can't win hockey games when that type of stuff happens, but I would have loved for our group to have shown the emotion that they showed in the scrum at the end of the game, all the way through, because that is the type of fight, grit, passion, determination, fight, tooth and nail for absolutely everything. Nothing is given in this league; you have to earn absolutely every inch of ice. And when we decide to figure that out, we're going to be a very scary team."

Victoire forward Hayley Scamurra on the PWHL breaking the U.S. attendance record in a city that is so special to her: "It was a pretty special moment for me, for sure. I knew they would show up, but I think this exceeded everyone's expectations. And to beat the U.S. record [by] as much as they did, it's just incredible. The energy that they brought, I mean that was the loudest they've ever been. I heard people from the Caps say that was as loud as they've been all season, so I think it's a testament to the people we have in our city."

NOTABLES ‚

This was the highest-attended in-arena game in U.S. women's hockey history, with the crowd of 17,228 surpassing the previous record of 16,014 fans set on Nov. 28, 2025, when the Seattle Torrent hosted the Minnesota Frost for their inaugural home opener at Climate Pledge Arena. The first-ever PWHL contest played in Washington, D.C. ranks tenth all-time in league attendance.

All nine games of the 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour have been decided by one goal.

New York set a new team record with points in six straight games (5-0-1-0), beating their previous five-game point streak between Jan. 28 and Feb. 23, 2024, with five straight games beyond regulation (0-3-2-0). Ottawa is the only other team with a six-game point streak this season, going 2-4-0-0 from Dec. 21 to Jan. 11.

The Sirens have won both of their Takeover Tour games this season, previously earning a 4-3 win over Seattle in Dallas on Dec. 28. This was Montréal's first Takeover Tour loss of the season, previously beating Toronto 2-1 in a shootout in Halifax on Dec. 17 and defeating Vancouver 1-0 in Québec City on Jan. 11.

The Victoire suffered their first loss since they last played New York on Jan. 2 in their seventh straight game decided by a single goal, a new team record for the longest streak of regular-season games decided by one goal or a shootout.

The Sirens have scored at least two goals in seven consecutive games this season, breaking their previous team record six-game streak between Jan. 1 and Jan. 20, 2024.

New York is undefeated in games where the team is outshot by their opponent (4-0-0-0) this season. They have just three wins in eight games when outshooting their opponent.

Kristýna Kaltounková's goal was her eighth of the season and fifth in her last five games, the most among PWHL rookies and the second-most among all PWHL skaters. The Sirens' first overall pick is now tied with teammate Casey O'Brien (4G, 4A) for the most points among all rookies this season with eight in 13 games. Both players have two power play goals, accounting for all four Sirens goals with the player advantage this season.

Anne Cherkowski recorded the first goal and fifth point of her PWHL career in her 13th game, making her the tenth PWHL rookie to reach the five-point mark this season. The Sirens second-round pick previously nabbed a point in the team's last game against Montréal on Jan. 2 at Prudential Center.

Sarah Fillier notched her first multi-point game of the season and eighth of her career with two assists on the day. The Sirens alternate captain has now reached six assists this season, all in the team's last five games as the home team. She co-led the league with 16 assists in 2024-25.

Maggie Flaherty recorded the first power play goal of her career and second tally against New York through 12 games as a member of the Victoire, exceeding her goal totals in each of her first two seasons with Minnesota. The veteran defender has points in back-to-back games for the second time this season and just the third time in her career, and with four points has doubled her offensive production from the 2024-25 campaign (1G, 1A) in 10 fewer games.

Kayle Osborne produced her fourth game with at least 30 saves this season in her record 13th consecutive start for the Sirens, matching her four 30+ save performances in 10 games as a rookie last season. Today was the New York netminder's fifth outing this season where she allowed one or fewer goals.

Ann-Renée Desbiens suffered her first loss since the Victoire's matchup against Toronto on Dec. 27, ending a three-game win streak. The Montréal goaltender has not surrendered more than two goals in any of her 10 starts this season.

Kati Tabin snagged her first power play assist of the season and fourth overall to lead all Victoire defenders in the category. The Canadian veteran is one of 10 PWHL defenders to compile at least five points this season.

Hayley Scamurra produced her second power play assist of the season and third overall to reach 10 assists for her career. The D.C. area product now has four points in 12 games to surpass the three (1G, 2A) she recorded in 25 games between Toronto and Ottawa last season.

Maja Nylén Persson earned a secondary assist to end a five-game point drought. Her last assist on Dec. 21 was also a power play helper scored by Kaltounková. The Sirens defender is now halfway to the six points she recorded in 23 games during her 2024-25 rookie campaign (2G, 4A).

Paetyn Levis tallied her third assist in 13 games this season and her first point since the Sirens last faced Montréal on Jan. 2 at Prudential Center, bringing her season points total to six which is tied for the fourth-most on the team. The former Ohio State Buckeye is now one assist away from her career-high assist total in 30 games last season.

Laura Stacey led all skaters with five shots on goal, reaching the mark for the second straight game, and leads the PWHL with 54.

THREE STARS ‚

1. ‚ ‚ Anne Cherkowski (NY) 1G

2. ‚ ‚ Kayle Osborne (NY) 31 SV

3. ‚ ‚ Sarah Fillier (NY) 2A

STANDINGS ‚

New York: 22 PTS (7-0-1-5) - 2nd Place

Montréal: ‚ 19 ‚ PTS (5-2-0-5) - ‚ 4th ‚ Place

UPCOMING SCHEDULES ‚

New York: Tuesday, Jan. 20 vs. Ottawa at 7 p.m. ET ‚

Montréal: Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Minnesota at 7 p.m. ET

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Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2026


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