LAVAL — Anne-Renee Desbien made 20 saves, including 11 in the third period, as the Montreal Victoire defeated the Toronto Scepter 3-1 in a Women's Professional Hockey League game Sunday afternoon at Place Bell.
Katie Tabin, Hayley Scamurra and Laura Stacey scored for Victoire (2-0-0-1), which won its second straight game.
Ragan Kirk made 27 saves for Toronto (2-0-0-2). Emma Gentry scored her first career PWHL goal in the loss.
Tabin opened the scoring at 8:38 of the first period when her shot from the point found traffic and Raegan Kirk scored her first goal of the season.
Montreal appeared to double their lead with less than eight minutes left in the first period when Marie-Philip Poulin redirected a pass into the net, but after being reviewed, the ball was ruled a hit and disallowed.
The Victoires had another chance to extend their lead at 1:35 on a five-on-three power play early in the second period, but were unable to capitalize on the advantage.
The Victoires eventually went ahead 2-0 early in the second period when Scamurra's centering pass hit Toronto defender Kali Flanagan and went past Kirk. It was Scamurra's first goal of the season.
Scamurra signed with Montreal in the offseason and played against Toronto for the first time since playing 19 games for them last season.
Toronto got on the board 1:36 into the third period when Gentry fired a shot over Desbiens' shoulder. Stacy responded minutes later and restored Montreal's two-goal lead.
TAKE AWAY
Scepter: Toronto conceded a short-handed goal after eight straight penalties to start the season
Victoria: Despite not playing since Nov. 25, Montreal came out and opened up a 12-3 shot lead in the first period and carried that momentum into the win.
KEY POINT
Toronto had a full two minutes of five-on-three play early in the third due to three consecutive penalties committed by Victoire. They failed to score and Debien made five saves, including a well-drawn save from Ella Shelton.
KEY STATISTICS
This is the first of three games between Montreal and Toronto in three different arenas. The two teams will meet Dec. 17 in Halifax on the PWHL Takeover Tour and again Dec. 27 at the Bell Centre.
NEXT
Victoria: Take on the Scepters on Wednesday, December 17th in Halifax.
Scepters: Take on Victory on Wednesday, December 17th in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2025.
