Toronto edges Montreal 2-1 to prevent Victoire from clinching PWHL playoff berth

LAVAL, Quebec (AP) — Natalie Spooner scored in the second period to lift the Toronto Sceptres past Montreal 2-1 on Sunday and prevent the Victoire from clinching a playoff berth.

Spooner scored her third goal of the PWHL season just over 12 minutes into the second to help Toronto (11-2-5-7) to a second straight win. Jesse Compher also scored in the second.

Kristin Campbell stopped 32 shots for the Sceptres as she won her eighth game of the season. Toronto has yet to lose in regulation this month and improved to 3-0-1-0 in March.

Marie-Philip Poulin scored her league-leading 15th goal of the season late in the third for Montreal (10-6-3-6). The Victoire lost its third straight game but just the first in regulation since a 4-1 defeat to the Sceptres on March 6.

Elaine Chuli stopped 18 shots for the Victoire. She started in place of Ann-Renée Desbiens, who suffered a left knee injury in Montreal’s 3-2 shootout loss in Boston against the Fleet on Tuesday. Desbiens leads the PWHL in wins (13), goals-against average (1.85) and save percentage (.932).

The Victoire remains in first place in the PWHL standings, three points ahead of Toronto with five games remaining for each team.

Sarah Nurse returned to the Sceptres' lineup after she was activated from long-term injured reserve before the game. She collected an assist and had two shots on goal in 13 minutes, 55 seconds of ice time. The 30-year-old had missed Toronto’s last nine games with a lower-body injury.

Victoire: Despite outshooting Toronto 17-8 in the second and directing 22 shots on goal, Montreal trailed 2-0 at the end of the period. It marked the third straight game the team has trailed.

Sceptres: Toronto killed off four of five Montreal power-play opportunities during the game. Across the six-game season series, the Sceptres killed off 21 of 22 Victoire power-play opportunities.

After a scoreless first, the Sceptres wasted little time getting on the scoreboard to start the second. Captain Blayre Turnbull found linemate Compher in the slot and Compher fired a shot past Chuli 52 seconds into the period.

Compher’s second-period goal was her fifth in six games against the Victoire this season. Six of Compher’s 10 career PWHL goals have been scored against Montreal.

Victoire: Visit Minnesota Frost on Wednesday.

Sceptres: Visit Boston Fleet on Wednesday.

AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

Toronto Sceptres' Natalie Spooner (24) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Montreal Victoire during second period PWHL hockey action in Laval, Quebec, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Sceptres' Natalie Spooner (24) moves in to score against Montreal Victoire goaltender Elaine Chuli (20) as Victoire's Kati Tabin (9) defends during second-period PWHL hockey game action in Laval, Quebec, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said Tuesday the country will hold general elections one year from now in an effort to end years of instability.

The deeply unpopular Boularte said the April 2026 polls will elect a new president, 130 deputies and 60 senators. The bicameral election system has not been used since the early 1990s.

In a brief nationwide television address, Boularte did not say if she would be a contender. Boluarte assumed power in Peru in 2022 to complete the term of then-President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office just two years into his five-year term after attempting to dissolve the legislature to avoid his own removal.

She said the upcoming elections will be “democratic, clean, transparent and orderly.”

Boluarte has a 93% disapproval rating, according to a national poll conducted by Datum Internacional in March. Her term ends on July 28, 2026.

Last week, Peru’s Congress voted to remove the interior minister from office after deciding that he had failed to adequately handle rising violent crime in the Andean country.

Public outrage has surged over an increase in killings and other violence, especially the recent killing of Paul Flores, the 39-year-old lead singer of the cumbia band Armonia 10. He was fatally shot when assailants attacked his band’s tour bus after a concert in Lima.

In reaction to the Flores killing, Boluarte on March 19 declared a state of emergency in the capital and ordered the deployment of soldiers to help police address the surge of violence. That same day, opposition lawmakers requested a vote of no confidence against the interior minister.

Boluarte’s government previously had decreed a state of emergency from September to December in an attempt to stem the violence.

Authorities reported 2,057 killings in 2024, up from 1,506 in 2023.

FILE - Peruvian President Dina Boluarte speaks to the press during a visit by Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia at the government palace in Lima, Peru, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo, File)