Game 18: Montreal (7-3-3-4, 30 pts, 3rd) vs. Toronto (8-3-0-5, 30 pts, 2nd)
PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
Start time: 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT
In Canada: CBC (English), RDS2 (French)
In the United States: Bally Sports North, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Streaming: YouTube, CBC Gem (Canada)
Montreal will try to beat Toronto for the first time this season, and try to stop Toronto’s record-setting nine-game winning streak in the process.
| Montreal | Statistics | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| 7-3-3-4 | Record (W-OTW-OTL-L) | 8-3-0-5 |
| 2.41 (4th) | Goals per game | 2.69 (1st) |
| 2.35 (3rd) | Goals against per game | 2.13 (1st) |
| 8.6% (5th) | PP% | 11.1% (3rd) |
| 81.4% (4th) | PK% | 95.7% (1st) |
| 0-0-1-2 | Head-to-Head Record | 2-1-0-0 |
Toronto’s last loss came back on January 23. Since that date, they have beaten Montreal three times: 4-3 in a shootout, and back-to-back 3-0 wins. Sunday’s game will be held at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh as part of the PWHL’s Takeover weekend. On Saturday, Boston defeated Ottawa 2-1 in a shootout at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, where they broke Minnesota’s record for highest pro women’s hockey attendance in the United States.
The two teams are tied at 30 points, three points behind Minnesota who sits at 33 after their win on Saturday. Toronto has played one less game than Montreal and two less than Minnesota.
Toronto forward Brittany Howard will be suspended for this game, a result of her cross check of Catherine Daoust in the last game these two teams played on March 8.
Montreal signed forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis to a 10-day contract on Saturday, and she will be expected to make her Montreal debut after playing six games with Ottawa earlier in the season. She had one assist in the January 23 game Toronto last lost.
Marie-Philip Poulin is still day-to-day but is probably unlikely to take part in the game after not skating all week at practice. Mélodie Daoust’s 10-game contract has come to an end, and both Ann-Sophie Bettez and Gabrielle David missed practice with illnesses. Claire Dalton, who has missed every game since her hat trick on February 24, is expected to return to the lineup.
With Poulin out, more responsibility would be placed on the shoulders of Kristin O’Neill, who played over 20 minutes in the game that Poulin sat out against Ottawa.
The game in Pittsburgh is a bit of a homecoming for Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. She spent a development camp and training camp as a guest coach with the Penguins.
“I haven’t spent much time there, but the time that I have spent there has been quality time,” said Cheverie. “Just touching base with some of the staff over the week they’re excited for the game and excited for me to come back to the city. Pittsburgh always does things the right way and I’m excited for that.”
After this game in Pittsburgh, Montreal has one game remaining before the league’s break for the IIHF World Championships on March 24 in Minnesota. Their next game after the break is currently scheduled for April 19 but there are chances it might move to leave the team more time between before their game on April 20 when they will host Toronto at the Bell Centre.
Montreal potential lineup
| FORWARDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 42 CLAIRE DALTON | 43 KRISTIN O’NEILL | 7 LAURA STACEY |
| 21 TEREZA VANIŠOVÀ | 8 GABRIELLE DAVID | 15 MAUREEN MURPHY |
| 16 SARAH LEFORT | 26 SARAH BUJOLD | 24 ANN-SOPHIE BETTEZ |
| 28 CATHERINE DUBOIS | 14 JILLIAN DEMPSEY | 17 ALEX POZNIKOFF |
| 13 MIKYLA GRANT-MENTIS | ||
| DEFENDERS | ||
| 2 MARIAH KEOPPLE | 23 ERIN AMBROSE | |
| 9 KATI TABIN | 4 CATHERINE DAOUST | |
| 12 LEAH LUM | 6 MADISON BIZAL | |
| GOALTENDERS | ||
| 35 ANN-RENÉE DESBIENS | ||
| 20 ELAINE CHULI |
Extras: G 1 Marlène Boissonnault, D 10 Brigitte Laganière, F 29 Marie-Philip Poulin (day-to-day), D 96 Dominika Lásková (LTIR), F 22 Kennedy Marchment (LTIR)
Toronto potential lineup
| FORWARDS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 HANNAH MILLER | 20 SARAH NURSE | 24 NATALIE SPOONER | |||
| 27 EMMA MALTAIS | 40 BLAYRE TURNBULL | 22 MAGGIE CONNORS | |||
| 17 SAMANTHA COGAN | 18 JESSE COMPHER | 51 VICTORIA BACH | |||
| 28 KAITLIN WILLOUGHBY | 10 ALEXA VASKO | 19 REBECCA LESLIE | |||
| 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, F 41 Brittany Howard (suspended)
Jared and Zoë Hayden of The Victory Press discuss the recent PWHL action, upcoming trade deadline, World Championships and more on the latest episode of the women’s hockey podcast:
