The Montreal Victoire are now one win away from the Walter Cup Final after grinding out a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Thursday night in St. Paul.
After falling behind early and being heavily outshot in the third period, Montreal leaned on timely scoring, disciplined defensive structure, and another stellar performance from Ann-Renée Desbiens to secure the franchise’s first-ever road playoff win. It was also their first playoff win in regulation.
Minnesota struck first just 3:22 into the opening period when defender Sidney Morin fired a low shot through traffic and past Desbiens.
The Frost controlled much of the opening frame, outshooting Montreal 10-7 while the game quickly turned physical. Penalties piled up on both sides, with Lee Stecklein and Taylor Heise sent off for Minnesota, while Dara Greig, Lina Ljungblom, and Amanda Boulier served minors for Montreal.
Despite the rough start, the Victoire responded with their strongest stretch of the game early in the second period.
Maggie Flaherty, facing her former team, tied the game on a wraparound after recovering her own rebound. Just 24 seconds later, Hayley Scamurra beat Maddie Rooney high on the glove side to suddenly give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
That quick offensive burst completely shifted the momentum.
“I think that they’re a resilient group that plays mature games,” head coach Kori Cheverie said about her team’s response between periods. “They have a great leadership group in that room, and being able to kind of fight through maybe not the best period — I think that’s what teams need to do in playoffs.”
From there, Montreal’s defence took over.
The Frost entered the game as the league’s top offensive team during the regular season.
“We know that Minnesota is a highly offensive team, and in order to shut them down, we all have to be on the same page,” Cheverie said. “Certainly, some desperation shot blocks come along with that.”
Montreal’s penalty kill continued to be one of the defining factors of the series, successfully handling multiple Minnesota power plays, including a tense 6-on-4 advantage in the final seconds after Flaherty was called for delay of game.
Flaherty admitted the late penalty created a stressful finish.
“I mean, you never want to toss it over the glass or take a penalty and put your team on 6-on-4,” she said. “But our kill has been very strong this series and the whole season. So I had faith in my teammates that they could finish out those last 18 or 19 seconds, and they did.”
Montreal also managed the game while dealing with a reduced workload for captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who played just 13:12 — her second-lowest total of the season and the fewest in a non-injury situation. With Poulin limited, other players stepped into larger roles including Lina Ljungblom and Shiann Darkangelo.
The quick turnaround between games has also become a major storyline in the series. Minnesota forward Taylor Heise did not hide her frustration with the playoff scheduling.
“Yeah, I think it’s a challenge. I think it’s a little inappropriate, honestly,” Heise said. “But I think for us, both teams are going through it. The other teams (Boston and Ottawa) had six days in between games and we didn’t, and that’s just the reality of what the league wanted.”
Cheverie said recovery will now be the focus before Game 4 on Friday night.
“We’ve got to take into account the recovery. We’ve got to take into account the mental capacity, the mental load,” she said. “We’re probably going to do maybe a little bit less than what we would normally do in terms of the information we give to the players, but the coaches prepare the same way. The players prepare their bodies and minds the same way, and refuelling.”
Now holding a 2-1 series lead, the Victoire have an opportunity to eliminate the defending Walter Cup champions and punch their ticket to the final with another win in Minnesota on Friday night. The Frost have been in this position before. In the inaugural season, they were down 0-2 to the Toronto Sceptres before winning three straight games to move on.
Game 4 of their series against the Frost is Thursday in Minnesota. Puck drop is at 8:30pm Eastern, and the game is available on Prime Video in English and French (Canada), and worldwide on YouTube.
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