Elaine Chuli made 45 saves and Tereza Vanišová scored late in the third period as Montreal defeated Minnesota 2-1 in regulation time at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday night. The win moved Montreal into top spot in the PWHL for the first time.
Vanišová’s goal started on a forecheck by Maureen Murphy. She put the puck towards the net where Vanišová was waiting, and made no mistake. It was her first goal of the season. It was scored with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Vanišová compte son premier but de la saison!
— PWHL Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) January 25, 2024
Rent was due for Vanišová!
MTL 2, MIN 1 pic.twitter.com/84Ff819ygI
“It was a great forecheck from [Murphy], and I just got the empty net.” Vanišová said. “Pretty easy goal for me, but an important one.”
“She didn’t celebrate really, so that was something I was surprised with,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “I was like ‘did that no go in?’ and I think there were a lot of cool storylines that came out of tonight’s game and the girls are proud of each other.”
The goal came just 30 seconds after Vanišová came out of the penalty box for a tripping penalty drawn behind the Minnesota net. Montreal’s penalty kill went 5/5 in the win.
“We got a lot of penalties, and I am very grateful that we killed them all,” Vanišová said. “I stepped on the ice and we got that forecheck and we scored it was a pretty great outcome.”
The only reason Montreal had the opportunity to take the lead was because of Chuli, making her second start of the season. The Ontario native is now 2-0 on the season, and has made 75 saves on 78 shots. Montreal was outshot 46-26, but Cheverie was not upset by the team’s performance in front of their goaltender.
“I’m really happy with our goaltending. A lot of their shots were from the outside and I’m very OK with that. Really happy with the response of our group tonight. I don’t care about the shot volume at all. I don’t care about 42-45 shots on net,” Cheverie said, adding that the volume was mostly from the outside. “I’m happy with how we shut them down and that’s the goal, to shut them down because I know we can put pucks in the net when we need to.”
“It felt pretty good, a couple of good bounces which always helps,” Chuli said. It was Chuli’s first start in two weeks after starting against New York on January 10. “That’s something that’s new to me, but I’m trying to embrace it. Just trying to take what I practice into the game but it did help to get shots early that you can feel good with.”
Montreal opened the scoring 4:12 into the game when Laura Stacey’s shot bounced off of Taylor Heise’s stick and past Nicole Hensley. It was Stacey’s third goal of the season.
Stacey ouvre la marque à Minnesota!
— PWHL Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) January 25, 2024
You betcha that went in! pic.twitter.com/EP097EpfnM
Minnesota tied the game up in the second period when a Liz Schepers shot created a rebound that fell right to Michela Cava, who put the puck past Chuli.
Montreal moves to 3-1-2-1 on the season with 13 points and they handed Minnesota their first regulation loss of the season. The power play continued to struggle, going 0/2 and sits at 1/22 on the season. Montreal’s next game will be Saturday afternoon against Ottawa at Place Bell. The upper bowl has been opened for the game, which is poised to set a new Montreal attendance record.
“Every night feels like a Game 7. It’s really hard to get three points in this league,” Cheverie said.
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