Victoire, Sirens Take Over DC & Record Book

The PWHL has hit some home runs when it comes to the Takeover Tour. Sunday’s event was the most recent, and most successful in the US. A US women’s hockey record 17,228 fans showed up at Capital One Arena in DC to see Montreal and New York go toe to toe. Just as the fans showed up, so did both teams. High octane end to end play, a little controversy and even some late game fireworks were included in this huge win for the league. 

The atmosphere was normal for the Victoire, who routinely play in front of sellout crowds at Place Bell in Laval. For the Sirens, however, this was a major shot in the arm. The team that has the most problems at the gate had the home crowd advantage. The DC Crowd was clearly in their corner with the wee-oo siren chant reverberating round the building from start to finish.  

New York would get on the board early with a powerplay goal in the opening 2 minutes of the game. Montreal would get the equalizer from a Maggie Flaherty howitzer with 30 seconds remaining in the period. New York would go up again mid-way through the 2nd and, from there on, it became the Kayle Osborne show. The Sirens net minder would stop 31 shots in total, including a few that were worthy of the highlight reel. 

No good game comes without some close calls. A 3rd period equalizer from Marie-Philip Poulin was deemed a no goal following video review. The Victoire captain tipped a shot that was clearly caught by a rebounding Osborne, but Osborne’s entire glove appeared to cross the goal line. Fans stood, screaming their opinions during the review as the video board showed the slow motion angles of the play. In the end, Osborne’s glove crossed the line, but the puck was never visible. No goal, same score, more tension. 

Tensions would be the final activities of the game as things boiled over at the buzzer. A loose puck scramble in front of the New York net led to pushing, a scrum, and 80 minutes worth of misconducts as the officials separated the players. 

Of course, only minutes later, with the melee over, players took part in the customary handshake and photo at center ice. All of this to the delight of the US record crowd. 

If the PWHL expands to DC, these two teams will be able to take immense pride in knowing they put on the show that helped make it happen. The same can be said for the crowd.