Claire Dalton's hat trick leads Montreal past Ottawa 6-3
Montreal's Claire Dalton (42) celebrates with teammates Laura Stacey (7) and Marie-Philip Poulin (29) after scoring against Ottawa during the third period of a PWHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Credit: AP/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL — Claire Dalton scored three goals, including a short-handed effort which snapped a 1-1 tie late in the second period, to lead Montreal to a 6-3 victory over Ottawa on Saturday at Verdun Auditorium.
The win moved Montreal (5-3-3-2) into first place with 24 points. That’s three better than Minnesota, which has an opportunity to reclaim a share of the lead Sunday with a win at home over Boston.
Tereza Vanisova opened the scoring for Montreal with a power-play goal. It was only the fourth power-play goal this season for Montreal which came into the game with the worst power-play record in the league, succeeding on only 7.6% of its opportunities.
Ann-Sophie Bettez and Maureen Murphy scored the other Montreal goals. Marie-Philip Poulin collected three assists.
Akane Shiga, Daryl Watts and Katerina Mrazova scored for Ottawa (3-0-4-5).
Ann-Renée Desbiens made 28 saves for the win while Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer made 19 stops.
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Montreal's Claire Dalton (42) scores against Ottawa goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer during the third period of a PWHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Credit: AP/Graham Hughes
Ottawa: Hosts New York on Wednesday.
Montreal: Hosts Boston on March 2.
