PWHL Montreal to host Toronto at Bell Centre

PWHL Montreal will take on Toronto at the Bell Centre on April 20, the league announced Tuesday.

The "Duel at the Top" comes after Toronto hosted Montreal at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 17 in front of 19,285 spectators, a women's hockey record.

After the success of the game in Toronto, Montreal players made it clear the team wanted to host a game at Montreal's NHL rink.

"To have the opportunity to play at Bell Centre would be historical," Erin Ambrose said at the Montreal Canadiens' skills competition in February.

The Bell Centre will be the sixth NHL venue to host a PWHL game this season. New York's UBS Arena and Minnesota's Xcel Energy Center are both home rinks for PWHL teams. Scotiabank Arena hosted that record-breaking game, while Detroit's Little Caesars Arena and Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena are set to feature neutral site contests on Mar. 16 and 17.

The PWHL has broken the professional women's hockey attendance record three times in its inaugural season and will aim to do so again in Montreal. Ottawa briefly held the mark after its home opener in front of 8,318 fans at TD Place Arena before being surpassed by Minnesota at Xcel Energy Center later in the week with a crowd of 13,316.

Toronto broke the overall women's hockey attendance record on Feb. 17, surpassing the 18,014 mark set at the 2013 Women's World Championships in Ottawa.

The April 20 clash comes days after the completion of the 2024 Women's World Championships in Utica, New York. Over 12 Montreal and Toronto players will feature at the tournament, including Canadian stars Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Natalie Spooner, and Laura Stacey.

Toronto and Montreal are currently first and second in the PWHL.