Abby Roque scored twice to lead the Montreal Victoire to their first Walter Cup trophy Wednesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Ottawa Charge.
Roque scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 3:49 of the second period and scored a short-handed jailbreak goal at 9:58 of the third to secure Montreal’s first Professional Women’s Hockey League championship.
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It is the first time a Canadian team has won the Walter Cup since the PWHL was formed. Only one other team has claimed the league title, and that is the Minnesota Frost, who won back-to-back titles in the league’s first two seasons.
Marie-Philip Poulin was named the 2026 Ilana Kloss Playoff Most Valuable Player, as she recorded two goals and six assists over nine playoff games, tying her teammate Roque for most points in the playoffs.
The Victoire won the first two games of the championship series in overtime, but Ottawa avoided the sweep with a 2-1 win in Game 3 on Monday.
This marks the second straight year that Ottawa lost in the final.
Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 23 shots for her second playoff shutout, while Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips stopped 12 shots as the Charge were shut out for the first time this post-season.
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The Charge had three power-play opportunities, including one midway through the third, but failed to capitalize. Ottawa was 0-for-10 with the advantage in the four-game series.
Montreal opened the floodgates in the third period with three goals.
After Roque’s short-handed goal made it 2-0, the Victoire extended their lead when Maggie Flaherty fired a floater from just inside the blueline that seemed to handcuff Philips at 13:54. Lina Ljungblom made it 4-0 when she won a puck battle against Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner and wrapped a shot around Philips with 4:16 left in the game.
Montreal opened the scoring at 3:49 of the second period when Marie-Philip Poulin dropped a pass back to Roque, whose shot deflected off Rory Guilday’s stick past Philips.
The Charge generated a number of chances in the second.
Ottawa had a 3-on-1 early in the period, but Sarah Wozniewicz shot wide. Jocelyne Larocque then had a nice chance from in close but put it right in Desbiens’ pads. Wozniewicz had a second chance only to ring a shot off the post midway through the period and Emily Clark, on a partial breakaway, couldn’t beat Desbiens.
Ottawa had the best chance in the first period with a power play but managed just one shot and the game remained scoreless after the opening 20 minutes.
-With files from the Canadian Press
