The New York Sirens took care of business at The Rock on Saturday afternoon, starting off the new year with a 4–3 victory over the Montréal Victoire.
Playing in their first game of the 2026 calendar year, they won a franchise-tying third game in a row and got revenge after being shut out by Montréal 4-0 on November 25. The win gets them to 15 points, tied for second in the league with the Minnesota Frost.
Laura Stacy got the Victoire on the board on a breakaway pass from Kati Tabin. Her second goal of the season broke the score 3:46 into the game and Montréal had an early lead 1-0.
The Sirens wouldn’t head back to the locker room without a response. With under four minutes to go, Anne Cherkowski found Anna Bargman in front of the crease to put it in the back of the net for the tie. Scoring her first PWHL goal, Bargman was in the middle of a spin move where she caught the pass, wrapped around to face the goal, and drilled it in between Victoire goalie Sandra Abstreiter’s legs.
A bad pass and miscommunication cost Montréal early in the second period. What was supposed to be a routine pass from the goalie after the puck went behind the net turned to disaster after Abstreiter over-passed to the defender, giving the Sirens an odd man rush. Maddi Wheeler fed Kristin O’Neill for a one-timer and New York was ahead 2-1.
Their lead wouldn’t last as about two and a half minutes later the Victoire tied it back up on the power play. Erin Ambrose passed to a wide open Marie-Philip Poulin at the face-off dot who hit a one-timer slap shot.
The score changed to 3-2 in favor of the Sirens midway through the period. A one timer from Casey O’Brien to Kristýna Kaltounková gave New York the lead. The rookie to rookie connection put the Sirens in front heading into the second intermission.
The Sirens extended their lead in the third period thanks to a snipe from Paetyn Levis on a breakaway. Assisted by Sarah Fillier, the goal kept the ball rolling and the momentum up for New York and they had a two goal lead with time winding down.
After having a goal taken back because of high sticking, the Victoire attempted a late comeback. With an empty net, Natalie Mlýnková scored on a tip-in with roughly 25 seconds remaining. However it was a goal that was too late because in the last 25 seconds, the Sirens made the stop and went on to win.
While the Sirens may have won the game, you can easily say Montreal should’ve been Victorious. Montréal had 45 shots on goal compared to New York’s 21 and were by far the more physical team. But in the end, the smart passing and finding the open man got to the best of them, ultimately losing the game.
This win can’t go without crediting goalie Kayle Osborne. Winning her third game in a row, the 42 saves she made were crucial in the Sirens win. Her performance helped New York win its third game in a row, a franchise record.
“It wasn’t the prettiest of games for us,” Sirens head coach Greg Fargo said postgame. “We’ve been going pretty good here the last eight or nine days but at the same time I just think it was a really good team win and it took everybody.”
Abby Roque made her return to Prudential Center this time as an opponent. The newly acquired forward for Montréal racked up 30 points in 54 games in her two years as a Siren. “It was special, I’m not gonna lie I got a little emotional that I saw it,” Roque said referring to a video tribute from the Sirens played during the game. “I was part of the Sirens for two years and have nothing but gratitude for the organization so it was definitely really special and something I’ll hold on to for a long time.” Roque had two assists in the game and made two trips to the penalty box in the loss.
Jade Downie-Landry returned to The Rock for her season debut; instead playing for Montréal. The Quebec native signed with her home team in the off-season after spending her first two seasons in New York where she scored 12 goals and 7 assists in the first 54 games played in Sirens history.
The Sirens will play for their fourth win in a row on Tuesday in Toronto against the Sceptres while Montréal heads home to play against Minnesota Frost on Sunday.
