Poulin's hat trick sparks Montreal past New York 5-2

Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin, centre, celebrates with teammates Dominika Laskova, left, and Catherine Dubois, right, after scoring an empty-net goal during the third period of a PWHL hockey game against New York Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. Montreal won 5-2. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Frank Franklin II)

Marie-Philip Poulin scored a hat trick and Elaine Chuli earned a win in her first game as Montreal beat New York 5-2 Wednesday at UBS Arena at Belmont Park.

Montreal bounced back from being shutout at Minnesota to post the most goals scored in a game by a Professional Women's Hockey League club.

Poulin, widely considered one of the best women's hockey players of all time, collected the league's second three-goal game.

Called "Captain Clutch" by her Canadian teammates because she scored the game-winning goal in three Olympic games (2010, 2014, 2022), Poulin got Montreal's first goal midway through the first period.

She then finished a breakaway by punching a pass from Maureen Murphy past the right skate of New York goalie Corinne Schroeder and capped the scoring by firing a shot from centre ice into an open New York net with two minutes left in the game.

Catherine Dubois scored a second-period goal for Montreal (2-1), and Kennedy Marchment scored five minutes into the third period.

Chuli had 30 saves on 32 shots from New York.

Schroeder, who earned a shutout in the opener at Toronto, had 30 saves.

New York got a first-period goal from Jessie Eldridge, and Ella Shelton scored 26 seconds into the third period on an assist from Abby Roque.

New York (1-2) earned a shutout win over Toronto in the new league's first game on New Year's Day but now lost a game at each of its two home game arenas, falling to Toronto at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Friday.