Montreal scored three third period goals to overcome a 3-0 deficit, but a bad bounce with 1:20 left saw Boston pull out the 4-3 win at a sold out Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA on Saturday.
Kaleigh Fratkin’s shot was going wide, but hit off of Montreal defender Amanda Boulier and past Ann-Renée Desbiens in what was a classic third period, especially given the stakes. Boston needed a regulation win to clinch a playoff spot, and any other result would have left them vulnerable.
.@PWHL_Boston retakes the lead! 🚨
— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) May 4, 2024
Kaleigh Fratkin scores with 1:20 left to give Boston a 4-3 lead over @PWHL_Montreal
Boston needs a regulation win to secure a playoff berth
Watch live on @cbc TV, https://t.co/bBaiS17bce and @cbcgem pic.twitter.com/vZ8Iws0ah4
Montreal was locked in to the #2 seed regardless of the result of this weekend’s action and will face the team that #1 seed Toronto does not choose as their opponent in the first round, which is a best-of-five series.
“We knew that nothing today was going to change where we were,” said Montreal defender Erin Ambrose. “It’s hard to match somebody who’s playing for their season.”
“We know what we can do, and the first two periods definitely wasn’t what Montreal can produce,” said Montreal forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis. “In the second intermission, we had our leadership group tell us that this wasn’t us and make sure that the third period was what we want to go into playoffs with and that’s what turned it around.”
Boston opened the scoring at the 15:19 mark of the first period. Kelly Babstock broke in the zone and fed Hilary Knight whose reach allowed her to just get enough of the puck to put it past Desbiens. It was Knight’s sixth goal of the season.
The home team doubled their lead just over three minutes later when off a face-off play, Theresa Schafzahl fed Alina Müller in the slot, and she wired a shot past Desbiens to make it 2-0.
They scored the only goal in the second period when Knight fed Megan Keller with a beautiful pass and she got to the far side of the net to make it 3-0.
Montreal’s third period comeback started with a power play goal from Mikyla Grant-Mentis, who got her stick on a puck that was trickling by Aerin Frankel. The goal came just 3:43 into the third period. It was Grant-Mentis’s first PWHL goal.
MGM !!!!
— x – LPHF Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) May 4, 2024
BOS 3, MTL 1 pic.twitter.com/WgUywaUkmt
Less than eight minutes later, Grant-Mentis struck again on the power play when she tipped Mariah Keopple’s point shot past Frankel. It was suddenly a one-goal game with 8:30 remaining
Keps compte son premier but de la saison! 🙌
— x – LPHF Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) May 4, 2024
Keps scores her first one of the season! pic.twitter.com/8lsR2hHKyV
Grant-Mentis seemed to score in the first game of the season when she was playing for Ottawa against Montreal, but the puck went under the lifted net and was disallowed so she said it was fitting that her first goals came in the final game of the season.
With less than four minutes remaining, Cheverie decided to pull Desbiens for the extra attacker to push for the tying goal, and it paid off when Marie-Philip Poulin, who else, jumped on her own rebound and tie the game at 3-3.
La seule et l'unique, CAPITAINE CLUTCH!
— x – LPHF Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) May 4, 2024
The one and only, CAPTAIN CLUTCH! pic.twitter.com/Ud5BwFVoAt
It looked like the game would be heading to overtime before Fratkin’s pinball shot clinched the game and the playoff spot for Boston.
Cheverie used a lot of her bench throughout, with Ambrose topping the ice time for the team at just over 21 minutes. Cheverie also said that they got to work on situations that will help them in the post-season. Both power play goals were scored by the second unit, as an example, as they got increased opportunities.
Montreal will now wait for the final game of the season between Toronto and Ottawa that will decide the final playoff spot. An Ottawa regulation win means they get in, any other result means Minnesota gets in. Toronto will then choose which team they will play, and Montreal will get the other team. The PWHL playoffs get underway on Wednesday. Montreal’s first playoff game at Place Bell will be on Thursday night.
Standings
| TEAM | GP | RW | OW | SW | OL | RL | PTS | GF | GA | MAX PTS | MAGIC | TRAGIC | #1 | HOME | GOLD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOR | 23 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 44 | 64 | 48 | 47 | X | – | Z | Y | NA |
| MTL | 24 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 60 | 57 | 41 | X | – | – | Y | NA |
| BOS | 24 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 35 | 50 | 57 | 35 | X | – | – | – | NA |
| MIN | 24 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 35 | 54 | 64 | 35 | 1 | 3 | – | – | NA |
| OTT | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 60 | 58 | 35 | 3 | 1 | – | – | NA |
| NY | 24 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 26 | 53 | 67 | 26 | – | E | – | – | 3 |
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