By The Associated Press on January 10, 2024.
ELMONT, N.Y. (AP) – Marie-Phillip Poulin scored a hat trick and Elaine Chuli earned a win in her first game in goal as Montreal beat New York 6-2 Wednesday at UBS Arena at Belmont Park. Montreal bounced back from being shutout at Minnesota to post the most goals scored in a game by a Professional Women’s Hockey League club and Poulin, widely considered the best women’s hockey player of all-time, collected the league’s second three-goal game. Called “Captain Clutch” by her Canadian teammates because she scored the game-winning goal in three of the four Olympics in which she played (2010, 2014, 2022), Poulin got Montreal’s first goal midway through the first period, then finished a breakaway by punching a pass from Maureen Murphy past the right skate of New York goalkeeper Corinne Schroeder. She capped the scoring by firing a shot from centre ice into an open New York net. Erin Ambrose and Catherine Dubois each scored second-period goals for Montreal (2-1) and Kennedy Marchment scored an insurance goal with five minutes left in the third period. Chuli had 30 saves on 32 shots from New York. Schroeder, who earned a shutout in the opener at Toronto, had 30 saves on 35 Montreal shots. New York got a first-period goal from Jessie Eldridge and Ella Shelton scored 27 seconds into the third period on an assist from Abby Roque. New York (1-2) earned a shutout win over Toronto in the new league’s first game on New Year’s Day, but now lost a game at each of its two home game arenas, falling to Toronto at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Friday. ___ AP hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/hockey 11