The Vancouver Goldeneyes’ winning streak at home ended Saturday after the Montreal Victoire defeated them 4-2.
Vancouver hosted Montreal at the Pacific Coliseum in front of a crowd of 12,127 people.
Victoire’s captain, Marie-Philip Poulin opened up the scoring in the first period. Dara Greig, Natálie Mlýnková and Shiann Darkangelo also scored for Montreal, while their goaltender Sandra Abstreiter made 27 saves.
Sophie Jaques and Michela Cava scored for the Goldeneyes and Emerance Maschmeyer saved 26 out of 30 shots on net.
Cava said it felt good to get her first goal of the season at home.
“I’ve been a little bit frustrated, just trying to figure out how to get pucks in the net and be more creative and just finding my game. It felt really good to get one in there and hopefully they just keep rolling. Great crowd [in the Pacific Coliseum] and it was really loud.”
The PWHL central situation room overturned Gabby Rosenthal’s third-period goal for Vancouver after they had determined that Rosenthal had “used a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net.”
Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski said, “I think we’re still finding ourselves a little bit with what we do, who we are and being consistent with some of our decision making. When we get loose and we’re not exiting clearly like at the beginning of the second period, we create a lot of problems for ourselves that we really don’t need to. Montréal played a very structured, simple game, getting pucks off the glass and out and to the next level. For whatever reason, that’s something we’ve been struggling a little bit with.”
Although the Goldeneyes lost, many fans were in the festive spirit for the holiday-themed game. Often singing the end of the chorus of the song that was playing when the play started up again.
One lucky fan even got to take home a Montreal Victoire stick after it flew over the boards during the second period. Unsure of what to do with it, the crowd cheered for her to keep it. A staff member came down to retrieve it, and the crowd booed until he gave it back to the fan, who let out a loud cheer.
This was Vancouver’s last game before Christmas, as their next game is on Dec. 27 at 12 p.m. PT against the Minnesota Frost at Rogers Place in Edmonton. This game is a part of the 2025- 2026 PWHL takeover tour.
READ MORE: PWHL Takeover Tour returns: 16 games across Canada and U.S.
The PWHL entered its third season on Nov. 21 with its original six teams: Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Minnesota Frost, Boston Fleet, and New York Sirens, along with the two new teams, Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent.
In Canada, Tuesday night games will stream on Prime Video, Wednesday night games will be on TSN, Thursday night games will air on TSN and Sportsnet. Friday, Saturday and Sunday games will air on CBC, TSN, and Sportsnet.
About the Author: Anna Burns
I cover breaking news, health care, court, Vancouver Rise FC, Vancouver Goldeneyes and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader. anna.burns@surreynowleader.com Follow Anna on Twitter.