Boston players celebrate a goal during Saturday night's overtime win over Montreal. (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

MONTREAL, Quebec — Amanda Pelkey gave Boston its first-ever win on Saturday, as the forward scored at 2:17 in overtime to lift her team to a 3-2 victory over Montréal.

A sold-out Verdun Auditorium showed up to see Montréal play on home ice for the first time–the last of the league’s six teams to play in their home opener– after the team played their first three games on the road.

The home crowd went into a frenzy when captain Marie-Philip Poulin put the puck past Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel just 20 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime, but the goal was called back after video review determined that there was goaltender interference on the play.

The game ended less than two minutes later when a loose puck was poked free by Boston’s Gigi Marvin and onto the stick of Pelkey, who buried the puck past a diving Ann-Renée Desbiens. Jamie Lee Rattray recorded the secondary assist on the tally and ended the game with two helpers.

After a scoreless first period in which Montréal outshot Boston 11-6, the home team officially opened the scoring in the second period –33 seconds into the frame– when defender Erin Ambrose netted the first home goal in the team’s history off a shot from the point.

Just 29 seconds after Montréal went up 1-0, forward Laura Stacey doubled the lead for her team off a one-time shot from the top of the slot. Tereza Vanišová picked up the primary assist on the goal and now leads all PWHL players with 4 assists on the season. Kristin O’Neill recorded her second assist of the season on the goal.

Montréal looked to further add to its lead when Boston defender Emily Brown took a penalty at 3:20 of the second period but, instead, it was the road team who capitalized on the penalty kill as Taylor Girard scored on a breakaway 55 seconds into the penalty. Marvin recorded her first of two assists in the game on the tally.

The shorthanded goal — the first-ever in team history –cut the lead in half to 2-1, and freed teammate Brown from the box per the PWHL’s penalty kill rule where a shorthanded goal ends the penalized team’s minor penalty.

The action-packed second period continued at 5:46 when Boston forward Hannah Brandt tied the game at 2-2, finishing a tic-tac-toe play from linemates Theresa Schafzahl and Rattray.

The third period saw Montreal outshoot Boston 11-3 but neither team could break the 2-2 tie, which sent the game into extra time.

Up next, Montréal continues its 3-game homestand when they host New York at Place Bell on January 16. Boston looks to make it two in a row when they visit Toronto on Wednesday.

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