Game 4: Boston @ Montreal
Start time: 3:30 PM EST / 12:30 PM PST
In Canada: CBC (English), ICI-TV/Radio-Canada (French)
In the United States: NESN
Streaming: CBC Gem, YouTube, TOU.TV, NESN 360
After three straight road games in front of over 23,000 combined fans, Montreal finally gets their home opener in front of a sold out Verdun Auditorium. It will be the highest attended professional women’s hockey game in the city since 2017 when Les Canadiennes played at the Bell Centre with approximately 4,000 fans packing Verdun.
Awaiting Marie-Philip Poulin and the hometown team is their rivals from Boston, who will not be wearing the traditional hockey black and gold, but the Celtics green and white. Boston hasn’t played a game since January 3 after their game on Monday was postponed due to weather impacting travel.
Montreal is coming off of their first regulation win and the biggest scoring output in league history, a 5-2 win over New York, led by a hat trick from their captain Poulin.
Elaine Chuli made 30 saves in the win against New York but it will be Ann-Renée Desbiens starting in her home province for the first time in a professional league game. She has over 60 friends and family members attending the game.
Laura Stacey and Ann-Sophie Bettez, who missed the last game (Bettez missed the last two) are expected to be back in the lineup. Kristin O’Neill left practice early on Friday and may be questionable for the game. If she cannot play, Catherine Dubois will draw in as the reserve player is still on a 10-day contract. If O’Neill plays, it’s likely Montreal dresses seven defenders.
| Montreal | Statistics | Boston |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1-0-1 | Record (W-OTW-OTL-L) | 0-0-0-1 |
| 2.67 (T-2nd) | Goals per game | 2.00 (T-4th) |
| 2.33 (2nd) | Goals against per game | 3.00 (T-4th) |
| 11.1% (4th) | PP% | 25.0% (1st) |
| 85.7 (T-4th) | PK% | 100% (T-1st) |
| 0-0-0-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 0-0-0-0 |
Boston is led by former Les Canadiennes forward Hilary Knight, who will be playing her first league game in the city since she was a member of the Montreal team in 2019. Knight is the team’s captain but the Boston team has a ton of recognizable names like Team USA defender Megan Keller, Canadian forward Jamie Lee Rattray, third overall pick Alina Müller and the PHF’s leading scorer from a year ago Loren Gabel, among others.
In goal, Boston has a duo of Aerin Frankel and Emma Söderberg. Frankel allowed three goals in the team’s 3-2 loss to Minnesota, and should be expected to start again after the long lay off unless the team wants to get a look at the Swedish goaltender.
It will also be the first regular season game for Boston hockey legend Jillian Dempsey against a team from her hometown. Dempsey spent 10 seasons playing for Boston pro teams, she also played her NCAA hockey at Harvard. She signed a one-year contract with Montreal after they drafted her. When these two teams met in the pre-season, Dempsey scored a goal.
Montreal projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #24 Ann-Sophie Bettez | #29 Marie-Philip Poulin | #15 Maureen Murphy |
| #21 Tereza Vanišová | #43 Kristin O’Neill | #7 Laura Stacey |
| #16 Sarah Lefort | #14 Jillian Dempsey | #22 Kennedy Marchment |
| #28 Catherine Dubois | #26 Sarah Bujold | #42 Claire Dalton |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #9 Kati Tabin | #23 Erin Ambrose |
| #2 Mariah Keopple | #96 Dominika Lásková |
| #6 Madison Bizal | #4 Catherine Daoust |
| #12 Leah Lum |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #35 Ann-Renée Desbiens | #20 Elaine Chuli |
Boston projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #36 Loren Gabel | #11 Alina Müller | #21 Hilary Knight |
| #37 Theresa Schafzahl | #47 Jamie Lee Rattray | #9 Sophie Shirley |
| #17 Taylor Girard | #20 Hannah Brandt | #27 Shiann Darkangelo |
| #12 Taylor Wenczkowski | #19 Gigi Marvin | #16 Amanda Pelkey |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #5 Megan Keller | #7 Sidney Morin |
| #2 Emily Brown | #8 Sophie Jaques |
| #22 Jessica DiGirolamo | #13 Kaleigh Fratkin |
| #97 Jess Healey |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #31 Aerin Frankel | #30 Emma Söderberg |
