Top draft pick Sarah Fillier scores twice for first PWHL goals, Sirens beat Victoire

LAVAL, Que. — Top draft pick Sarah Fillier scored twice for her first Professional Women’s Hockey League goals and assisted on the winner to lead the New York Sirens past the Montreal Victoire 4-1 on Wednesday.

Alex Carpenter, off a sweet backhand feed from Filler, buried her third of the season for New York (1-1-0-0) and Jade Downie-Landry added an empty-netter. The Sirens opened the season with a 4-3 overtime win over the defending champion Minnesota Frost.

Corinne Schroeder made 28 saves for the win.

Fifth overall pick Cayla Barnes scored her first PWHL goal with a tidy backhand deke for Montreal (0-1-0-1) before 5,415 at Place Bell. The Victoire beat the Ottawa Charge 4-3 in a shootout Saturday.

Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 32 shots.

New York capitalized on a turnover from Montreal’s Anna Kjellbin before Fillier slid the puck into the net 11:32 into the first period.

The 24-year-old Fillier from Georgetown, Ont., an Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion with Canada, produced her second with 18 seconds left.

The Sirens drafted Fillier first overall in this year’s draft after her college career at Princeton.

Takeaways

Sirens: The must-see Fillier and Carpenter duo kept rolling. Fillier set up Carpenter twice, including a highlight-reel saucer pass, in New York’s win over Minnesota. The Sirens also played without Ella Shelton, who led all defenders with 21 points in 24 games last season.

Victoire: Montreal struggled to generate offence early on. The Sirens led the shots 18-4 after the first period, before the Victoire led 10-8 in the second and 15-10 in the third after head coach Kori Cheverie shuffled her lines.

Key moment

Fillier received the puck behind the net and quickly spun to make a no-look pass to Carpenter in the slot. Carpenter made no mistake and beat Desbiens to put the Sirens up 2-1 at 9:09 of the third.

Key stat

Montreal dominated the season series with four wins to one in the inaugural 2024 campaign, securing 13 out of a possible 15 points. Montreal finished in second place with 41 points, New York was last with 26.

Up next

Victoire: Visit the Ottawa Charge on Friday at Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Senators.

Sirens: Wrap up a season-opening road trip Sunday against the Boston Fleet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.