Elaine Chuli made 29 saves as the Toronto Sceptres defeated the Montreal Victoire 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in front of 18,107 fans at the Bell Centre.
Chuli, who spent two seasons as Montreal’s backup got her first start against her former team and in the Bell Centre to boot. Raygan Kirk started the first two Montreal-Toronto games of the season.
“It’s a pretty special building,” said Chuli. “I tried to just approach it like any other game in any other building but, yeah, really happy.”
The attendance was the second-highest in team history, surpassing last year’s Bell Centre game but behind the world record when the team sold out the Bell Centre in 2024.
“We know she’s a good goaltender,” said Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin. “She showed today that she’s a key goaltender in this league and I’m really proud of her, to be honest. We got to see her over the last two years. She took the chance to go to Toronto and be one of their goaltenders there which is great for her.”
Toronto opened the scoring with 1:45 remaining in the first period when Jesse Compher was left alone in front of the net, picked up the loose puck and put it past Ann-Renée Desbiens. It was Compher’s 13th career goal, and seventh against Montreal.
In the second period, Montreal briefly tied the game when Kaitlin Willoughby made a great feed into the slot to Abby Roque, who fired it past Chuli from her knees.
Abby ROQUE le Centre Bell
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) December 27, 2025
Abby ROQUEs the Bell Centre pic.twitter.com/LpN7VEv1FJ
“It was definitely pretty cool,” Roque said about scoring her first goal at the Bell Centre and third of the season. “Probably should have had a couple more goals today but I’ll take that. It’s really cool playing in front of these fans and they get excited and we wanted to get the win for them so that was unfortunate.”
With under five minutes remaining in the second period, Toronto took the lead for good when a Montreal turnover at the offensive blue line turned into a two-on-one for the Sceptres. Daryl Watts kept the puck and fired the shot past Desbiens.
Montreal’s best chance to tie the game came late in the second period on the power play when Laura Stacey’s shot beat Chuli, rang off the post and was cleared off the line by Toronto defender Kali Flanagan. They pulled Desbiens with around two minutes remaining, but were unable to generate the tying goal.
It is Montreal’s second straight loss in regulation after they had a four-game winning streak. Toronto leapfrogged Montreal into second place in the PWHL, while Montreal is holding onto the final playoff spot at the moment.
After travel from Halifax to Vancouver and Seattle and back to Montreal in the span of 10 days, Montreal now has their next game on Friday in New York before returning home on Sunday to face the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost.
The rest will do the team good, and allow them to get their bodies back on Eastern time.
“It’s factual that the team is tired,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “You can’t slice it any other way. If we’re feeling it, they’re feeling it. But with that being said, we’re still not satisfied with what we’ve put behind goaltenders so we can’t use that as an excuse.”
Notes
- Montreal’s power play went 0/3, extending an 0/13 stretch over their last four games.
- Catherine Dubois returned to the lineup after missing three games. Kelly-Ann Nadeau was scratched, as Montreal went 13 forwards and six defenders for the first time this season.
- Jade Downie-Landry and Lina Ljungblom, both on Long-Term Injured Reserve, practiced with the team on Friday in non-contact jerseys, indicating they are nearing a return. Montreal will need to move one player to the reserve roster and release one player off the roster to accommodate both players when they are ready to return.
- Toronto has now won both games they have played at the Bell Centre. Montreal is now 1-2 in the three games at the arena.
Standings
Full Highlights
