Game 21: Montreal (8-3-4-5, 34 pts, 3rd) vs. Toronto (10-3-0-7, 36 pts, 1st)
Bell Centre
Start time: 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT
In Canada: CBC (English), RDS (French)
Streaming: YouTube, CBC Gem (Canada)
The last hockey game with real playoff implications at a full Bell Centre was a while ago. Thanks to bubble playoffs and COVID restrictions during the last two playoff appearances for Montreal, the Bell Centre wasn’t full (or used at all). The last game with stakes at a full Bell Centre was back on April 2, 2019. The Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning that night, but a loss on the road a few days later, mixed with other results, eliminated them from the playoffs.
April 2, 2019 was also just two days after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it would cease operations. It is somewhat fitting then, that a sold-out Bell Centre’s next important game would be the first PWHL game at the arena and will showcase the immense support that has enveloped the league.
It was already going to be a huge occasion when these two teams battled at the Bell Centre, but thanks to results on Thursday, now first place is on the line as well. Montreal defeated Minnesota and Toronto lost to Boston, both in regulation time.
Toronto just needs a point to clinch a playoff spot, while Montreal will clinch with a regulation win. If they win in regulation, they will also take top spot (at least, momentarily… Minnesota will play in Ottawa later in the day and would have a chance to overtake both teams as well).
| Montreal | Statistics | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| 8-3-4-5 | Record (W-OTW-OTL-L) | 10-3-0-7 |
| 2.40 (4th) | Goals per game | 2.55 (2nd) |
| 2.40 (3rd) | Goals against per game | 2.15 (2nd) |
| 12.1% (4th) | PP% | 12.5% (3rd) |
| 81.3% (5th) | PK% | 93.1% (1st) |
| 0-0-1-3 | Head-to-Head Record | 3-1-0-0 |
Toronto had a historic 11-game winning streak but they lost their last game before the international break and first game coming out of it. They have beaten Montreal in every game the two have played. Their first meeting ended in a shootout in Verdun. Then, Toronto beat Montreal in regulation at Scotiabank Arena in front of 19,285 fans which set a record that is expected to be beat at the Bell Centre. Toronto then beat Montreal in Toronto in the game Marie-Philip Poulin left with an injury and finally in Pittsburgh in a game Poulin missed.
It was confirmed that Montreal has signed forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis to a standard contract for the rest of the season. She was originally announced as on a 10-day contract.
This will be the third professional women’s hockey game to be played at the Bell Centre, and the first since 2017. This may shock you, but the first person to score a professional women’s hockey goal at the Bell Centre is Marie-Philip Poulin. The 2017 game was played during the 2017-18 season, when North American Olympians were centralized with the national team and not playing in the CWHL.
Previous Bell Centre games
December 10, 2016 – Montreal 1, Calgary 0 (Recap)
Attendance: 5,938
Winning goaltender: Charline Labonté
Losing goaltender: Emerance Maschmeyer
Goals: Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL)
November 11, 2017 – Kunlun Red Star 3, Montreal 1 (Recap)
Attendance: 5,187
Winning goaltender: Yuqing Wang
Losing goaltender: Emerance Maschmeyer
Goals: Erinn Noseworthy (MTL), Melanie Jue, Jessica Wong, Kelli Stack (KRS)
Montreal potential lineup
| FORWARDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 42 CLAIRE DALTON | 29 MARIE-PHILIP POULIN | 15 MAUREEN MURPHY |
| 18 MIKYLA GRANT-MENTIS | 43 KRISTIN O’NEILL | 7 LAURA STACEY |
| 16 SARAH LEFORT | 26 SARAH BUJOLD | 8 GABRIELLE DAVID |
| 28 CATHERINE DUBOIS | 14 JILLIAN DEMPSEY | 17 ALEX POZNIKOFF |
| 12 LEAH LUM | ||
| DEFENDERS | ||
| 9 KATI TABIN | 23 ERIN AMBROSE | |
| 2 MARIAH KEOPPLE | 44 AMANDA BOULIER | |
| 6 MADISON BIZAL | 4 CATHERINE DAOUST | |
| GOALTENDERS | ||
| 35 ANN-RENÉE DESBIENS | ||
| 20 ELAINE CHULI |
Extras: G 1 Marlène Boissonnault, D 10 Brigitte Laganière, F 24 Ann-Sophie Bettez (LTIR), D 96 Dominika Lásková (LTIR), F 22 Kennedy Marchment (LTIR)
Toronto potential lineup
| FORWARDS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 EMMA MALTAIS | 20 SARAH NURSE | 24 NATALIE SPOONER | |||
| 34 HANNAH MILLER | 40 BLAYRE TURNBULL | 51 VICTORIA BACH | |||
| 22 MAGGIE CONNORS | 18 JESSE COMPHER | 19 REBECCA LESLIE | |||
| 17 SAMANTHA COGAN | 10 ALEXA VASKO | 41 BRITTANY HOWARD | |||
| 28 KAITLIN WILLOUGHBY | |||||
| DEFENDERS | |||||
| 3 JOCELYNE LAROCQUE | 14 RENATA FAST | ||||
| 18 ALLIE MUNROE | 6 KALI FLANAGAN | ||||
| 5 LAURIANE ROUGEAU | 7 OLIVIA KNOWLES | ||||
| GOALTENDERS | |||||
| 50 KRISTEN CAMPBELL | |||||
| 27 ERICA HOWE | |||||
Extras: G 70 Carly Jackson, D 76 Maude Poulin-Labelle
