Poulin pots 2 goals to fire Victoire past Sirens ahead of PWHL's international break
Montreal goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stops 23 shots in 2-1 victory
Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals, Ann-Renee Desbiens made 23 saves on 24 shots and the Montreal Victoire beat the New York Sirens 2-1 Sunday in the final PWHL game heading into the league's second break for international play.
She had seven wins last season.
Montreal is 8-3-1-2 with 31 points to lead the PWHL standings, six more than second-place Minnesota.
WATCH | Poulin leads Victoire past Sirens in 2-1 win:
The teams skated to a scoreless draw through one period but Poulin wasted little time giving the Victoire the lead with a deft backhand goal 34 seconds into the second. She got her second goal four minutes later on a breakaway.
Poulin put a hard hit on New York's Jade Downie-Landry, who went down in a heap with 6:12 left in the second period. After a lengthy review Poulin was given a five-minute major penalty for charging and New York had a lengthy power play. Desbiens stonewalled the Sirens, however.
The Sirens (4-23-2-5, 20 points) got their lone goal with 6:07 left on Allyson Simpson's first PWHL goal but could not convert on a power-play opportunity in the final four minutes and with a player advantage after pulling Osborne for an extra attacker over the final 2:30.
The league's break accommodates several international competitions, including the "Rivalry Series" between Canada and the United States. League play resumes February 11 with Minnesota playing at Toronto.
