Things were going well for the Montreal Victoire in their first game of their West Coast road-trip on Sunday in Seattle against the Boston Fleet. They had a 2-0 lead after the first period, but were unable to hold on, falling 3-2 in a shootout to have their four-game winning streak end.
Laura Stacey opened the scoring on the power play 6:28 into the first period. Jennifer Gardiner’s shot hit off the end boards, and quickly landed on Stacey’s stick, and she had an empty net to get it past Aerin Frankel.
On aime ça quand Laura compte des buts
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) January 5, 2025
We love a power play goal from Laura pic.twitter.com/hmfnhwMTIs
It was Montreal’s first power play goal since the season opener, breaking an 0/19 slump in that span. The goal also allowed the Victoire to gain control of the game after Boston opened up a 5-0 shot advantage prior to the penalty.
Ten minutes later, the Victoire doubled their lead when Kristin O’Neill made a short pass to Abby Boreen, flying in off the bench, who walked into the slot, and fired a shot past Frankel.
Kristin O'Neill 🤝 Abby Boreen pic.twitter.com/RawdpChcPm
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) January 5, 2025
The goal was Boreen’s third goal of the season.
Montreal took the 2-0 lead into the second period, but then penalty trouble started to catch up to them. After a 5/5 performance on the penalty kill in their last meeting with Boston on Monday, the Fleet were able to capitalize on 2/6 opportunities on Sunday.
Two penalties in 22 seconds gave the Fleet an extended five-on-three that Boston capitalized on when Megan Keller made a cross-ice feed to Hannah Bilka, who fired a perfect shot just past the outstretched pad of Ann-Renée Desbiens. Desbiens was great throughout the game, making 28 saves.
”Special teams was the story of this game,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “We haven’t had that issue this year, but taking too many penalties. We want to play five-on-five, we’re strong five-on-five. Our PK has been really good, but you test it too many times and you’re playing with fire. The two power play goals against us were something that really changed the momentum.”
Montreal had several opportunities to take a 3-1 lead, including a shot that hit off the post, went off Frankel’s skate and was cleared off the line by Emma Greco. The game went into the third period with the Victoire up 2-1.
Midway through the third period, Boston tied the game up with their second power play goal of the game. Keller’s shot was tipped in front by Susanna Tapani and past Desbiens.
The Fleet had an opportunity on the power play late in the third period but Desbiens made a cross-crease save rob Amanda Pelkey with two seconds remaining. The power play continued into overtime, but the best chance came from Montreal shorthanded.
Stacey picked up a loose puck and used her speed to rush right past Keller and give herself a breakaway. Her backhand shot went through Frankel’s legs but didn’t have enough to get past the goal line, as it was cleared by a couple of Fleet defenders.
In the shootout, Boston scored on perfect shots from Hannah Brandt, Bilka, and Susanna Tapani. Montreal scored in the opening round when Marie-Philip Poulin beat Frankel, but that was the only goal they scored in four rounds.
With the point, Montreal re-took first place in the PWHL. They are tied at 14 points with Minnesota, but hold a game in hand. They will now head to Vancouver where they will await the Toronto Sceptres for a game at Rogers Arena on Wednesday night.
Notes
- Catherine Dubois served her one-game suspension. The Victoire played 12 forwards and seven defenders in the game, with Catherine Daoust making her season debut, playing 2:40, as the seventh defender. Daoust played all 24 games for the team last season.
- The attendance in Seattle was 12,608 which was the highest attendance in the PWHL so far this season. That mark should only stand for a few days as close to 19,000 people are expected at a sold-out Rogers Arena on Wednesday when Montreal faces Toronto.
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