Sceptres Shut out by Victoire in Final Game Before the Break
Published on January 28, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Toronto Sceptres News Release
LAVAL, QC - The Montréal Victoire head into the Olympic break with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Toronto Sceptres, backed by a 22-save performance by Ann-Renée Desbiens on Wednesday night at Place Bell. The Victoire have now won three straight games and three of the first four this season against their Canadian rivals, while the Sceptres have lost three games in a row. Rookie Natálie Mlýnková's goal at 16:33 of the first period held as the game-winner when she backhanded a shot from the slot past Toronto's Raygan Kirk. The Victoire added two more goals in the second period, both on the power play, with rebound chances buried by captain Marie-Philip Poulin at 14:25 and Shiann Darkangelo at 18:06. The third period was the only frame the Sceptres outshot the Victoire, 7-6, but could not beat Desbiens, who posted her third shutout and ninth win of the season on the same night fans in attendance received her bobblehead upon entry. Kirk stopped 28 shots in her 10th start of the season. When the final buzzer sounded, the Victoire were in sole possession of second place, while the Sceptres remained in seventh, with all eight teams in action across the PWHL for the first time in league history.
The PWHL will pause game action from Jan. 29 through Feb. 26 for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, with 61 players from all eight PWHL teams set to compete, representing eight countries.
QUOTES
Montréal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on the team's first half of the season before the Olympic break: "I'm really satisfied with our defensive game. I think leading the league in the least amount of goals against is something that we can be proud of, but probably something that not everybody would talk about. So that has been really a great spot for us, along with the depth. Being able to be hard to play against has been great. Our penalty kill has been great, and our power play has been going up and up. So overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the first 15 games."
Victoire Captain Marie-Philip Poulin on the game and the Olympic sendoff: "We knew this game was going to be difficult, physically and mentally. I think the players here in Montréal were super excited to finish strong and to use the crowd energy that was behind us tonight. All the girls were ready to play 60 minutes. We're really happy with where we're at after 15 games, and it was great to be on the ice at the end, receiving the love from our fans for our path toward the Olympic Games."
Sceptres Alternate Captain Renata Fast on the team averaging four penalties a game: "On the flip side, I think we need to generate more power plays for ourselves as well. Obviously, we want to stay out of the box, but I think we're a team that is confident in our penalty kill and we want to play a little bit on the edge. When you play that way, you're going to take some penalties. It's just managing the ones that maybe we don't want in the offensive zone, things like that, but I think at the end of the day when it comes to special team battles, we need to work a lot harder to generate power play opportunities."
Toronto Head Coach Troy Ryan on the game: "It's frustrating, the spot that we're in right now. In the second half, after the Olympic break, we're going to have to find a way to climb out of it. Even just briefly having a conversation with Emma [Maltais] and Renata, offensively we've just got to do more difficult things. I thought there was not a lot of traffic in front of Ann [Desbiens], a lot of one and done offence when you're just settling for a wrist shot at the top of the circle with no net drive or no traffic and giving them some easy breakouts in transition. We've just got to be a little bit more difficult to play against."
NOTABLES
Montréal stays undefeated at Place Bell this season, setting a new team record with their sixth straight win at their primary home venue. The Victoire's 6-1-0-1 overall record in home games gives them a league leading win percentage of .833.
Toronto has lost seven of their last eight games (0-1-1-6) since beating Montréal at the Bell Centre on Dec. 27. They scored just 10 goals in that stretch and allowed 27 goals against.
The Sceptres have suffered back-to-back shutout losses and three in their last six games. They had been shut out just three times in their first 64 regular-season games prior to this stretch. Toronto has gone 131 minutes, 50 seconds without a goal in their last three games in January, after going 133 minutes, 23 seconds without a goal across their first three games of the month.
Montréal scored two goals on the power play for the first time this season, capitalizing on two of their four opportunities to raise their first half success rate to 19.5%.
The Victoire's 31 shots on goal fell one short of their league-leading 32 per-game average. They lead the league with seven wins when outshooting their opponent.
Ann-Renée Desbiens becomes the first goaltender to win nine games this season and second to record three shutouts following Boston's Aerin Frankel. This was the eighth time in 13 starts she has allowed fewer than two goals, lowering her league-leading goals-against-average to 1.15 and raising her league-leading save percentage to .954 before the Olympic Winter Games where she'll represent Canada.
Natálie Mlýnková is now tied for the league lead with three game-winning goals. The Victoire second-round pick snapped a season-high five-game pointless drought with her fourth goal of the campaign, tied for second among rookies, as she heads off to Italy to represent Czechia.
Marie-Philip Poulin's seventh goal of the season was her second in three games and second on the power play this season. The Victoire captain also won 14-of-21 faceoffs to raise her league-leading win percentage to 63.9% at the dot. Poulin leads her team in scoring with 14 points heading into her fifth Olympic Winter Games with Canada.
Shiann Darkangelo's third goal of the season was her second of the campaign with the player advantage, setting a new career-high for power play goals. She finished second behind Poulin with 11 faceoff wins tonight, going 68.8% for her third-highest win percentage of the season.
Skylar Irving recorded her third assist of the season with a primary helper on the game's opening goal. The Victoire third-round pick has two assists in her last three games after going seven games without a point between Dec. 17 and Jan. 18.
Laura Stacey's primary assist was her sixth helper of the season and first on the power play to snap a career-high five-game point drought. The Victoire alternate captain and Canadian Olympian tied Poulin with five shots on goal tonight and leads all PWHL skaters with 68 shots on goal this season.
Hayley Scamurra recorded an assist in her third straight home game and has four assists in her last five games overall, with three of them coming on the power play. The U.S. Olympian's fifth assist of the season in her 15th game ties a career-high established in 24 games during the inaugural season with Ottawa.
Dara Greig picked up a secondary assist for her first point in 10 games since producing a multi-point effort (1G, 1A) on Dec. 20 against Vancouver.
Nicole Gosling collected her first career power play point with a secondary helper. All five of the Victoire first-round pick's points (1G, 4A) have come in eight January games.
Maggie Flaherty had a secondary assist on the power play to replicate the scoring line of the Victoire's opening goal at home on Jan. 13 against the Charge, where Darkangelo tallied and Scamurra had the primary assist. The defender has five points (2G, 3A) in her first 15 games with Montréal.
Maggie Connors led all Toronto skaters with three shots on goal, making it four straight games the forward has recorded two or more shots on goal.
Raygan Kirk suffered a second straight loss between the pipes for the Sceptres, with 28 saves counting as her fifth-highest total of the season.
The Winter Olympics women's ice hockey tournament is set to take place from Feb 5. until Feb. 19. For the latest news throughout the tournament, visit the PWHL's Milano Cortina 2026 Hub here.
THREE STARS
1. Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL) 22/22 SV
2. Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) 1G
3. Natálie Mlýnková (MTL) 1G
STANDINGS
Montréal: 27 PTS (7-3-0-5) - 2nd Place
Toronto: 17 PTS (4-1-3-8) - 7th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Montréal: Thursday, Feb. 26 at New York at 7 p.m. ET
Toronto: Friday, Feb. 27 at Seattle at 10 p.m. ET
Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2026
- Sceptres Shut out by Victoire in Final Game Before the Break - Toronto Sceptres
- Desbiens Backstops Victoire to Shutout Win over Sceptres before the Break - Montreal Victoire
- PWHL Suspension to New York's Taylor Girard Reduced to Three Games - PWHL
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