TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Kristen Campbell made 30 saves in front of a women鈥檚 hockey-record crowd of 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena, helping Toronto beat Montreal 3-0 on Friday night in the Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey League.
"The Battle on Bay Street鈥� broke the attendance record of 18,013 set at the 2013 world championships in Ottawa, Ontario, for a preliminary round game between Canada and Finland. Minnesota set the previous PWHL mark of 13,316 for its home opener against Montreal on Jan. 6 at Xcel Energy Center.
鈥淚t just shows that demand for women鈥檚 hockey and women鈥檚 sport.鈥� Campbell said after the team's first game at the home of the NHL's Maple Leafs. 鈥淧laying in this venue was something that we鈥檙e always going to cherish for the rest of our lives.鈥�
Jesse Compher, Hannah Miller and Victoria Bach 鈥� into an empty net 鈥� scored in the third period to help Toronto (6-5-0) win its fourth straight. Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 21 shots for Montreal (6-2-2).
鈥淭o see the amount of signs in the stands, to see little girls, little boys, families coming up, it鈥檚 unbelievable,鈥� Montreal star Marie-Philip Poulin said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening in women鈥檚 hockey right now, it鈥檚 surreal and we all take it in with a big smile.鈥�
Compher opened the scoring at 5:11 of the third with a shot over Desbiens鈥� shoulder. Miller made it 2-0 with 4:39 remaining, firing a wrist between Desbiens鈥� legs. Bach scored with 4:07 left with Desbiens off for an extra attacker.
Canadian women鈥檚 basketball team star Kia Nurse, the cousin of PWHL Toronto star Sarah Nurse, performed the ceremonial puck drop.
UP NEXT
Montreal: Hosts Minnesota on Sunday.
Toronto: Hosts New York on Friday.
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The Associated Press
