Boston's Hannah Brandt, left, stays win Montreal's Sarah Bujold during Saturday's PWHL game in Montreal (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

MONTRÉAL – Mélodie Daoust scored the game-winning goal in her PWHL debut, and Marie-Philip Poulin had three points to lead Montréal to a 3-1 win over Boston before a sold-out crowd at Verdun Auditorium on Saturday.

Elaine Chuli picked up her fifth win in as many starts with a 30-save performance, backstopping Montréal to their second straight win to maintain first place in the league standings.

Daoust, who began the season as one of Montréal’s Reserve Players, was signed to a 10-Day Standard Player Agreement before the game and found instant chemistry playing on the team’s top line with Poulin and Laura Stacey.

With an offensive zone face-off early in the second period, Poulin pushed the puck forward on the draw and passed it over to Daoust, who put a backhand shot behind Aerin Frankel at 4:50 to give Montréal a 2-0 lead.

Poulin scored the game’s first goal at 3:51 of the opening frame. An extended stretch of offensive pressure resulted in a shot by Daoust from the slot that was stopped by Frankel, with the rebound corralled momentarily by a Boston defender. As the puck bounced off the defender’s stick, Poulin pounced with a quick release inside the circle for her team-leading seventh tally of the season.

The captain’s second consecutive three-point performance was completed at 2:29 of the third period. Leading 2-1, Poulin carried the puck into Boston’s zone and fed a pass to defender Mariah Keopple. Keopple sailed a shot high and wide, but the puck rung around the boards where it was picked up by Erin Ambrose at the blue line. Ambrose’s shot found its way through traffic and into the back of the net – her third goal of the season.

Hilary Knight got Boston on the board at 14:55 of the second period with her third goal of the season. The captain took a two-on-one feed from Alina Müller, stickhandled her way towards the hashmarks, and unleashed her lethal shot short side past Chuli.

“I thought it was one of our better team games,” Boston coach Courtney Kessel said. “We took a few untimely penalties in the third period that didn’t help us. But overall, some positive things coming out of that game.”

Boston took three minor penalties in the third period which hindered their opportunity to mount a comeback.

Knight’s laser was the only shot to beat Chuli, who lowered her goals-against-average to 1.19 and raised her save percentage to .962 in this contest. Both are league-leading figures.

Frankel, who entered the game with back-to-back wins, made 32 saves in defeat.

Montréal gave Boston its first road loss of the season and picked up their league-leading fifth win on home ice. The three points raises Montréal’s first-place total to 27.

Boston makes its second trip to Toronto Wednesday for a 7 p.m. ET game at Mattamy Athletic Centre.