Laura Stacey scored the game-winning goal with 16.3 seconds remaining in overtime as the Montréal Victoire defeated the Boston Fleet 3-2 in front of 17,324 fans at the Bell Centre on Saturday.
Kati Tabin scored a pair of goals for Montreal, doubling her career goal output in 42 prior games with Montreal. Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 13 shots to earn her 11th win of the season, tops among PWHL netminders.
The Victoire (10-4-1-4) earned their second straight win and have now won eight of their past 10 games. Montreal remains atop the PWHL standings with 39 points, seven more than second-place Toronto, with two games in hand.
Amanda Pelkey, with her second goal in as many games, and Sidney Morin scored for Boston (6-5-3-6). The Fleet saw their four-game winning streak snapped, the team’s longest active win streak in the PWHL.
Aerin Frankel made 27 saves in a losing effort.
The Victoire welcomed forward Catherine Dubois back to the lineup. The Quebec City native had missed Montreal’s last four games with an upper-body injury suffered on Feb. 2 against New York.
TAKEAWAYS
Victoire: Montreal won for the second straight game despite trailing. The Victoire have seven come-from-behind wins this season.
Fleet: Boston failed to convert on its four power-play opportunities. The Fleet have scored at a 16.1 per cent clip with the advantage, second-worst in the league.
KEY MOMENT
It took the Victoire one shift and all of 36 seconds to get on the scoreboard in the first period. Tabin accepted a feed from Jennifer Gardiner before firing a point shot that made its way through traffic past Frankel to give Montreal the early lead.
KEY STAT
Tabin’s goal 36 seconds in was the fastest goal to start a game in franchise history. It came almost two minutes quicker than Montreal’s previous best, Dubois’s goal at 2:33 of the first period in a game against the Minnesota Frost on Jan. 12.
UP NEXT
Victoire: Host the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday.
Fleet: Host the New York Sirens on Wednesday.