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Victoire vs. Fleet recap & highlights: Stacey’s overtime winner leads Montreal to Bell Centre win

Posted on by Jared Book
Laura Stacey celebrates her overtime winner. (Photo by Vitor Munhoz/PWHL)

The Montreal Victoire entered the second intermission down 2-1 to the Boston Fleet on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre. For 12 of the players in uniform, and the entire coaching staff, it may have felt a bit like déja vu from last year’s playoffs.

They came out in the third period and outshot Boston 12-0, tying the game and forcing overtime. Of course, overtime hasn’t been especially kind to Montreal against their rivals from Boston either but with 17 seconds remaining in the extra period, Laura Stacey’s diving effort put the loose puck into the open net to give Montreal a 3-2 win.

“We knew it was a big third for us,” said Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin. “We needed to put a lot of pressure and we achieved that. We’re really happy with how it finished. Game after game we want to improve. We’re not satisfied and we’re really happy to win this game at the Bell Centre.”

“The playoffs are still hanging over our heads a little bit,” said Stacey about last year’s sweep against Boston where all three games ended in overtime. “It was a huge win for us tonight and an awesome feeling in front of that many fans.”

The 17,324 in attendance at the Bell Centre saw the first Montreal women’s hockey win in the building since 2016, ending a two-game losing streak in the largest arena in North America.

“I thought our energy dipped as a team in the second period and we just needed to find that level of compete that Boston was bringing,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “The players took it upon themselves to challenge themselves to come out in the third and make a decision that we were going to take over the game.”

Montreal couldn’t have asked for a better start, scoring on their first shot and first shift just 36 seconds into the game. The puck was pressured on the forecheck and eventually made its way back to Kati Tabin whose wrist shot made it through traffic and wasn’t seen by Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel until it was too late, if at all.

It was the fastest goal scored in team history.

With over 17,000 fans cheering a goal after the first shift, it could have been easy for the Fleet to crumble. Even their head coach Courtney Kessel admitted after the game she wasn’t sure which way the game was going to go after that, but Boston recovered and tied the game seven minutes later.

Amanda Pelkey batted the loose puck around a Montreal defender, giving herself a breakaway and fired a slapshot past Ann-Renée Desbiens to make it a 1-1 game.

Four out of Pelkey’s five career regular season and playoff goals have come against Montreal.

“I guess it’s close to home,” the Vermont native said about her success against Montreal. “I think it’s special anytime we do play Montreal. That’s a credit to their fanbase and using that to channel energy.”

Boston took the lead with the second period’s only goal when Sidney Morin tipped the Susanna Tapani shot past Desbiens. The Montreal goaltender got a piece of the puck but the redirection fooled her just enough that it managed to squeak by her.

The score stayed that way until 6:59 left in the third period. Tabin leaned into a slap shot and beat Frankel for her second of the game. It was her third goal of the season and tied the game up at 2-2.

Both of Tabin’s shots were with a lot of traffic in front of Frankel, which was obviously a game plan from Montreal. It was the first time they won a game with Frankel in goal since March 2, 2024, a streak spanning five starts, including last year’s playoffs.

After her second goal, Tabin was seen getting kudos and a hug from Cheverie but when asked what she said after the game, Tabin said that she blacked out.

In overtime, Boston had the first three shots on goal. Desbiens stood tall, making the saves look easy despite not facing a shot for the entire third period, including a breakaway from Jamie Lee Rattray. Hilary Knight also hit a post in the extra frame on a backhand.

Montreal had chances of their own as well, but it came down to one last rush with under 30 seconds to go.

Marie-Philip Poulin’s shot went wide, and the ricochet off the end boards went right into the slot where Cayla Barnes’ shot rang off the post. The loose puck sat tantalizing just outside the blue paint until Stacey’s diving effort got the puck past Frankel. Stacey’s shot was Montreal’s first official shot on goal in the five-minute overtime.

The overtime win extended Montreal’s lead over second-place Toronto to seven points and they still have two games in hand. Their next game will be Tuesday at Place Bell against the Minnesota Frost who are currently in the final playoff position, two points ahead of the Ottawa Charge.

Notes

  • Tabin’s two-goal game was the first two-goal game by a Montreal defender in team history.
  • With their 14th win, Montreal set a new team-record, surpassing their win total from last season in five fewer games.
  • Desbiens extended her streak of not allowing more than two goals in a game to 12.
  • Boston’s power play went 0/4 in the game, while Montreal’s went 0/3.
  • Seven of the 10 games between Montreal and Boston (regular season and playoffs) have needed overtime.

Standings

TEAM GP GR RW OW SW OL RL PTS GF GA MAX PTS MAGIC TRAGIC #1 HOME
MTL 19 11 10 2 2 1 4 39 54 43 72 19 44 23 21
TOR 21 9 8 2 0 4 7 32 55 55 59 26 31 30 28
BOS 20 10 6 2 3 3 6 31 51 46 61 27 33 31 29
MIN 20 10 6 2 2 3 7 29 57 57 59 29 31 33 31
OTT 20 10 7 1 0 4 8 27 47 53 57 31 29 35 33
NY 20 10 4 2 1 4 9 22 47 57 52 36 24 40 38

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