Claire Dalton's 'tour du chapeau' lifted PWHL Montreal to their third win of the season against PWHL Ottawa in front of a loud crowd at Verdun Auditorium.
Claire Dalton's 'tour du chapeau' lifted PWHL Montreal to their third win of the season against PWHL Ottawa in front of a loud crowd at Verdun Auditorium.
Claire Dalton put on a show for the Verdun Auditorium faithful on Feb. 24. The Etobicoke, Ont. born forward scored a hat trick, helping to keep Montreal undefeated against Ottawa this season with a 6-3 victory.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Ottawa (3-0-4-4) had yet to beat Montreal (4-3-3-2) in their previous two games. While Montreal was eager to reclaim first place over Minnesota, Ottawa had nowhere to go but up, sitting dead last in the PWHL standings.
Emphasizing the importance of having a strong start, Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie said the game was the best effort from her team this year.
“We know how fast Ottawa is, and that’s their game plan, that’s their strength,” she said. “For us, it was important to dictate. Have a good start, have a mentality to score the first goal of the game, get confidence and build each line.”
Montreal had an extra pep in their stride in the opening frame, pelting Emerance Maschmeyer with three shots in the first five minutes. After Rosalie Demers—playing in her first game in her home province—ran into Ann-Renée Desbiens, Montreal looked to lend this intensity to a struggling power play unit.
Fortunately, after an initial shot from Laura Stacey, Tereza Vanišová buried the rebound glove side for the opening goal and her second marker of the season. This was Montreal’s fourth power play goal in 40 attempts this season, and Stacey’s first PWHL assist.
When asked if it was surprising that it took Stacey 12 games to record her first assist, Marie-Philip Poulin said, “You can see the way she plays, she is so relentless on the puck… it was only a matter of time.”
Ottawa did not falter, however. A fast break saw a wrister from Natalie Snodgrass bounce off Desbiens’ pad and right to a streaking Akane Shiga, who netted her first goal and point of her PWHL career.
With the score once again knotted up, both teams augmented their physicality. Both goalies remained sharp as Montreal outshot their opponents 9-6 after the first 20 minutes of play.
The second period resembled the prior, Montreal showcased powerful skating early on while Ottawa settled in. Canada’s capital city strung together a slew of shots, taking the lead in this category 18-15 by the end of the period.
Two penalties were called on Montreal in the frame. The second, a too many players call served by Catherine Dubois, looked to give Ottawa much-needed momentum.
Unfortunately, a sloppy power play led to Montreal’s Claire Dalton beating the defender and tucking home the puck past an outstretched Maschmeyer, springing Dubois and giving Montreal the 2-1 lead. This was Dalton’s second goal of the season. The score remained this way headed into intermission.
Both teams swapped goals in the first five minutes of the third. Ann-Sophie Bettez beat Maschmeyer on a blocker-side snapshot for her second goal of the year. But Desbiens took a slapshot off the chest pad that bounced to Daryl Watts, who tapped home her third.
Dalton gave her team breathing room. After a feed from Erin Ambrose was shot home by the Yale alumni, scoring her second goal of the day.
Ottawa caught a break with eight minutes remaining when Catherine Daoust and Mariah Keopple were sent to the penalty box for tripping and hooking mere seconds after one another, respectively.
Ottawa would capitalize with six and a half minutes remaining thanks to Tereza Mrázová, who potted home a rebound over the glove of Desbiens. Montreal staved off the other penalty and held onto a 4-3 lead.
Despite this comeback attempt, Dalton had other plans. The forward scored her third goal of the day, marking her first PWHL hat trick with 4:35 left to play.
Dalton remarked post-game that she “never got one (a hat trick) at school.” When asked how it felt to play on a line with Stacey and Poulin, the forward joked about being in disbelief. “I got the lineup with my roommate and I said ‘This can’t be right.’ I’m glad they never fixed it.”
Maschmeyer was pulled at the 16-minute mark. But Maureen Murphy spoiled any hopes of Ottawa gaining momentum. Murphy potted home the empty-netter, the final goal in a 6-3 win for Montreal.
With three assists in the game, Poulin became Montreal’s leader in points with 12 on the campaign.