Mikyla Grant-Mentis’s first goal of the season provided the Montreal Victoire with the lead, and Elaine Chuli made 26 saves as Montreal defeated the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in regulation in front of just over 11,000 fans at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Friday night.
Grant-Mentis was released by Ottawa last season and was picked up by Montreal. She started the game on a line with Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey, but her goal came after she was put on a line with Alexandra Labelle and Claire Dalton. Labelle won a battle along the boards to get the puck to Dalton, who carried the puck and threw it in front where Grant-Mentis got a stick on the puck and put it past Emerance Maschmeyer.
Mikyla Grant-Mentis's game-winning goal vs Ottawa. #PWHL
— Jared Book (@jaredbook.bsky.social) December 7, 2024 at 6:52 AM
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“It felt pretty great,” Grant-Mentis said. “Every time I play Ottawa I feel I have a little oomph but it was nice to get a goal this time.”
Asked if she had any hard feelings about how things ended, Grant-Mentis said that she loves all the girls, and left it at that.
That goal ended up being the difference because of a big save by Elaine Chuli. Danielle Serdachny fed Gabbie Hughes with a cross-ice pass but Chuli was able to get across and make the save to keep it a 2-1 game.
Elaine Chuli's game-saving stop on Gabbie Hughes in the closing minutes. #PWHL
— Jared Book (@jaredbook.bsky.social) December 7, 2024 at 6:55 AM
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“I felt very comfortable every time the puck was around our crease,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie about Chuli’s first start of the season. “She kept things calm out there and the cherry on top with the save on the five-on-six. That’s why I believe we have the best goaltending in the league and both of our goaltenders give us a chance to win every single night.”
Ottawa had another couple of chances with the goalie pulled, but Chuli made another save on Savannah Harmon with her shoulder, and later another Harmon shot rang off the crossbar, leading some of her Charge teammates to raise their arms.
The first period saw Ottawa outshoot Montreal 8-7 with the Victoire having the only power play of the frame. Both goaltenders made big saves in the opening 20 minutes as the two teams faced off for the second time this season. They are the first teams to have a regular season rematch so far this season. Each team plays each other six times.
The penalty kills stood tall in the second period, and throughout the game. Montreal went 0/4 with the advantage, while Ottawa went 0/2. Both teams had two power plays in the middle frame, but it was the Victoire’s captain who found the only special teams goal.
Marie-Philip Poulin poked the puck from Aneta Tejralova, giving her a breakaway. It was her fourth breakaway of the season against Ottawa and Maschmeyer, but this time she didn’t need three attempts. She beat Maschmeyer glove side for her first career PWHL shorthanded goal, and first goal of the season.
Marie-Philip Poulin's shorthanded jailbreak goal to take a 1-0 lead vs Ottawa. #PWHL
— Jared Book (@jaredbook.bsky.social) December 7, 2024 at 6:51 AM
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The goal freed Dara Greig out of the penalty box, although there were only a handful of seconds remaining.
Poulin admitted after the game there was a lot going through her head because of the many breakaways she has had against Maschmeyer. She thought about going low blocker, where she scored the shootout winner in the first meeting, but decided high glove instead.
Ottawa tied the game seven minutes later. After a Stephanie Markowski shot was saved by Chuli, the rebound was poked by Brianne Jenner to the far side where Ashton Bell pounced on it and put the puck in the open cage. It was Bell’s first goal of the season, and Jenner’s first point in her first game after missing the first two to start the season.
The tied game didn’t last long. Grant-Mentis’s goal came only 2:46 later with just over two minutes remaining in the second period.
Montreal’s third period was focused on holding the lead, mustering only five shots despite having the period’s only power play. They didn’t give up much in terms of dangerous chances, allowing only eight shots. The shot totals were 29-27 in favour of the Victoire in the game.
“We like this,” said Cheverie when asked if it was the perfect road game. “We’re really happy with the bounce back. We needed to clean up some things defensively and we felt with that win, mission accomplished for us and what our objectives were for the game.”
The win moved Montreal into a tie for first place with the New York Sirens, with five points. New York has one game in hand. The PWHL will have an international break from December 9-16, and Montreal’s next game is only December 21 in Toronto. Their next home game is December 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
Notes
- Maureen Murphy missed her second straight game with an injury. Head coach Kori Cheverie said that the team was being cautious. The long break could be beneficial to her.
- Montreal started the game with Grant-Mentis on the top line with Poulin and Laura Stacey. The team swapped Grant-Mentis and Jennifer Gardiner partway through the game. The second line was Lina Ljungblom with Kristin O’Neill and Abby Boreen. The fourth line of Dara Greig, Clair DeGeorge, and Catherine Dubois remained unchanged.
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