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Abby Roque scored twice and Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 23 shots as the Montreal Victoire claimed their first PWHL title with a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Charge in Game 4 of the Walter Cup Finals Wednesday night.
Maggie Flaherty and Lina Ljungblom also scored for Montreal, who started the best-of-five series with two overtime wins at home before dropping a 2-1 game in Ottawa on Monday. Home teams had won the last five finals games before Montreal’s clincher.
“Just so much love for this group,” Roque said. “The things we have battled through these playoffs, it was just out of this world the amount of heart on this team. I love everybody and I couldn’t be prouder.”
The Minnesota Frost won the league’s first two titles, including last year’s four-game championship series victory over Ottawa. Montreal ousted Minnesota in this season’s semifinals to reach the final.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated Montreal, tweeting, “An incredible and historic season — the Cup comes home for the first time.”
Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin was named playoff MVP. She tied for the postseason lead with eight points, scoring two goals and adding six assists.
Poulin reflected on the uncertainty women’s hockey faced before the PWHL was launched. “After the CWHL closed its doors there were two years where we didn’t really know what was going to happen,” she said.
“There was a group of women who came together to put this league together. Three years later it all comes together to win the Walter Cup. It feels good. It feels really good.”
Poulin also spoke about the league’s impact on young girls. “When you see little girls in the stands, we see parents seeing that there’s possibilities, there’s dreams there. It’s unbelievable. So, to see what this league is all about, it’s really special to be part of.”
Roque opened the scoring at 3:49 of the second period with a deflected shot off Ottawa defender Rory Guilday’s stick. On a break with Poulin, Roque swept the puck from the right corner into the middle where it glanced off Guilday and beat goalie Gwyneth Philips.
Roque added a short-handed goal at 9:58 of the third period, cutting across the crease on a breakaway and beating Philips with a backhander.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting for these playoffs for a long time,” Roque said. “I love playoff hockey. I love meaningful hockey when it’s physical and it’s tough and there’s not a lot of room to do much out there. That’s where it’s fun to me.”
Poulin was off the ice for interference on Roque’s short-handed goal. Montreal also killed a penalty in each of the first two periods, while Ottawa remained penalty-free.
Flaherty made it 3-0 with 6:06 remaining, firing a shot from the blue line through traffic into the top right corner. Ljungblom sealed the win with a goal off a turnover at 4:16 left.
The Victoire are scheduled to depart Ottawa Thursday morning, heading back to Montreal’s Verdun Auditorium to celebrate their Walter Cup victory.
