Claire Dalton of Toronto, Ontario recorded her first career Professional Women’s Hockey League hat trick on Saturday. She accomplished the feat in a 6-3 Montreal win over Ottawa at the Verdun Auditorium in Verdun, Quebec.
Dalton’s first goal was the only goal in the second period. It was a shorthanded marker from Kati Tabin of Winnipeg, Manitoba with one minute and 48 seconds left, and put Montreal up 2-1 at the time. Dalton then put Montreal up 4-2 from Canadian Olympic gold medalists Erin Ambrose of Keswick, Ontario, and Marie-Philip Poulin of Beauceville, Quebec with a game-winning goal, and then put Montreal up 5-3 from Poulin and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Laura Stacey of Mississauga, Ontario with four minutes and 35 seconds left in the third period.
Dalton was one of two Canadian players on Montreal with a goal. The other was Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Iles, Quebec. Three Canadians on Montreal had a multi-point game. Poulin had three assists and Stacey had two assists. Poulin won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Poulin, Stacey, and Ambrose won a gold medal for Canada at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In all, Dalton had three goals in four shots against Ottawa, and was a +3. In 2024, she has five goals and one assist for six points. She is a +5 with 17 shots on goal, one game-winning goal, one power-play goal, and one short handed goal. The power-play goal came in a 2-1 Montreal win over Minnesota from Tabin and Leah Lum at 3:41 of the first period on February 18.
With the win, Montreal is in first place in the PWHL Standings with 24 points. They have three more points than second place Minnesota.
