PWHL Takeover Tour: Montréal vs. New York - Your Essential Pre-Game Guide

Sunday, January 18, 2026 | 2 p.m. ET | Capital One Arena – Washington D.C. WATCH LIVE: FOX 5+ Washington DC, Monumental Sports Network, MSG, My9, CBC, CBC Gem, cbc.ca, ICI TÉLÉ & ICI TOU.TV, PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International), More EN: Jamie Hersch (Play-by-Play), Becky Kellar (Analyst), Abby Labar (Reporter); Andi Petrillo (CBC Studio Host), Hailey Salvian (CBC Studio Analyst), Saroya Tinker (CBC Studio Analyst); FR: Roseline Filion (Studio Host), Stéphanie Poirier (Studio and Game Analyst), Michael Roy (Play-by-Play), Christine Roger (Reporter) MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE 5-2-0-4 | 19 PTS | 3RD PLACE (TIED) Top Scorer: Marie-Philip Poulin – 11 GP, 5-7-12 PTS Last Game: 2-1 W vs. OTT on Jan. 13 NEW YORK SIRENS 6-0-1-5 | 19 PTS | 3RD PLACE (TIED) Top Scorer: Casey O’Brien – 12 GP, 4-4-8 PTS Last Game: 3-2 OTL vs. MIN on Jan. 16 2025-26 SEASON SERIES: TIED 3-3 IN POINTS (MONTRÉAL LEADS 26-13 IN POINTS ALL-TIME) Nov. 25 at MTL: 4-0 MTL | Jan. 2 at NY: 4-3 NY | Jan. 18 at NY (WASHINGTON) | Feb. 26 at NY | Mar. 28 at MTL (DETROIT) WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW Sunday’s game will be the first PWHL game played in Washington, D.C. It will be the third time this season a Canadian team has played a U.S.-based team in a Takeover Tour game in the United States with the Canadian team winning each of the first two (Ottawa beat Minnesota, 3-2 in overtime in Chicago, Vancouver beat Boston, 4-3 in Detroit). Montréal has won both of its Takeover Tour games so far this season with a shootout win in Halifax over Toronto and a 1-0 victory over Vancouver in Québec City. Last season, the Victoire won two of their four Takeover Tour games, with the wins coming in Canada (Vancouver and Québec City) and the losses coming in the United States (Seattle and Denver). In its first Takeover Tour game of the season, the Sirens scored a 4-3 win over Seattle in Dallas. New York has scored four goals in each of its last two Takeover Tour games, also doing so last March in a 4-1 victory over Minnesota in Detroit. The Victoire are coming off a 2-1 win over Ottawa Tuesday, the team’s third straight win and sixth straight game decided by a single goal. It is tied for Montréal’s longest ever streak of regular-season games decided by one goal or a shootout with a six-gamer in January/February 2024. The Sirens have points in five straight games (4-0-1-0), with their record four-game winning streak coming to an end Friday with an overtime loss to Minnesota. New York has one previous five-game point streak between Jan. 28 and Feb. 23, 2024, with five straight games beyond regulation (0-3-2-0). Hayley Scamurra grew up in the DC area as her father, Peter Scamurra, played four NHL seasons for the Washington Capitals. His final NHL game came against a New York team (the Rangers) on Dec. 30, 1979. Hayley should have the largest cheering section today at Capital One Arena, expecting over 60 friends and family members in attendance. Scamurra, Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Sirens alternate captain Jaime Bourbonnais and forward Kayla Vespa performed the ceremonial puck drop Saturday night before the Capitals played the Florida Panthers. Vespa grew up in Hamilton, ON, cheering for the Caps and her favorite player Alex Ovechkin. She and Victoire forward Laura Stacey both scored in the last game of the Capitals PWHPA Showcase on Mar. 5, 2023, at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Casey O’Brien’s shorthanded goal against the Frost on Friday was her team-leading eighth point of the season. The third overall pick and 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award winner was the second rookie to score a shorthanded goal this season, joining Boston’s Riley Brengman. O’Brien (and Wisconsin) beat Brengman (and Ohio State) in the 2025 NCAA Championship. Kayle Osborne has started a record 12 straight games for the Sirens and made a career-high 42 saves when these teams met on Jan. 2. That save total is the highest of the 2025-26 PWHL season, matched yesterday by Vancouver’s Emerance Maschmeyer in a 2-1 overtime loss against Toronto. Abby Roque leads the head-to-head season series with five points (2G, 3A), accounting for two of her season’s three multi-point games as a member of the Victoire. She had just two multi-point games last season as a member of the Sirens. The Sirens are the league’s youngest team with an average age of 25 years 6 months, while the Victoire are the league’s oldest team with an average age of 27 years 11 months. Poulin, the Victoire’s top scorer, is the team’s oldest player at age 34. Sirens rookie Dayle Ross, who has played two games after beginning the season on LTIR, is the team’s youngest at 22. Poulin is headed to her fifth Olympics and one of 14 Olympians on these teams. Montréal’s Erin Ambrose, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Kati Tabin and Stacey will join her on Team Canada with New York’s Sarah Fillier, Kristin O’Neill and Osborne. Czechia’s Kristýna Kaltounková (NY) and Natálie Mlýnková (MTL), Germany’s Sandra Abstreiter (MTL), Sweden’s Maja Nylén Persson (NY), Switzerland’s Nicole Vallario (NY) and Scamurra (USA) will also compete. Thirty players from these teams competed in the IIHF U18 Women’s Worlds. Canada and the United States play for gold in the 2026 tournament today in Cape Breton, NS. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING “I cannot wait (for this game). I've actually never been on the ice at Capital One Arena. I've helped the Capitals behind the scenes there a lot, but to get to go on the ice and play professional hockey in the D.C. area in front of my friends and family is going to be absolutely incredible and I'm beyond excited. My dad has been a huge inspiration in my life. He was the reason I started to play hockey, and I learned a lot from him. He was a professional hockey player and I get a lot of advice from him, so to be able to play in the same city he played in, it's a pretty full circle moment.” - Victoire forward Hayley Scamurra “Taking the game on the road in a new market is an opportunity to represent our team to a new audience. Montréal is a fast and physical group, and we know we’ll need to be connected for a full 60 minutes. The focus is to play as our team, to our identity and embrace the energy that D.C. will bring our way for today’s Takeover Tour game.”- Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo