The Montreal Victoire had a chance to be the first PWHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season with a regulation win, however they fell to the Toronto Sceptres 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at a sold-out Place Bell in Laval.
Kristen Campbell made 32 saves as the Victoire lost for the first time in regulation where they outshot an opponent. Elaine Chuli made 18 saves in her first start since starting goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens went down with a lower-body injury.
Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie is not worried about her team, despite the lack of scoring they have had over the last few games.
“The team did exactly what we asked them to do, take pucks to the net,” she said. “We need to be able to put those pucks in the back of the net, but in terms of where the puck is going, where the bodies are going, we just need to continue on the path that we’re going in.”
Montreal hasn’t won a game in regulation since February 25, a span that is now seven games. Their lead on first place is down to three points on Toronto, with Boston five points behind with a game in hand. Montreal and Toronto both have five games remaining.
Toronto opened the game leading the shot count 7-0 at the first TV timeout, but coming out of that, Montreal started turn things around. The shots were 7-1 Montreal for the remainder of the period, but the game remained without a goal.
The Sceptres opened the scoring in the opening minute of the second period. Blayre Turnbull passed the puck to Jesse Compher in space, who fired a shot past Chuli. It was Compher’s ninth goal of the season, and she had goals in five of the six games against Montreal this season.
“The first goal was a missed assignment on a puck placement to a track back with a miscommunication between our forward and our D2 and it ends up on Compher’s stick and in the back of the net,” Cheverie said.
With 7:50 remaining in the second period, Toronto doubled their lead. Natalie Spooner had a great chance in the crease that Chuli stopped with a diving stick save, but Spooner quickly put in the rebound for her third goal of the season, all coming against Montreal.
“On the second goal, I thought we gave that to them,” Cheverie said. “I thought we could have came back to the house and stopped, and we missed a box out assignment that ended up in the back of our net.”
Montreal outshot Toronto 17-8 in the second period, including two power plays, but ended up being outscored 2-0 and trailed entering the third period.
The Victoire had an early power play chance, their fourth of the game, in the third period but failed to generate much of anything dangerous. It was only in their second power play of the period, with 4:45 remaining, that they finally beat Campbell.
Marie-Philip Poulin had the puck at the left circle and fired a shot past Campbell. It was Poulin’s league-leading 15th goal of the season. It was also the first power play goal Montreal scored against Toronto all season, breaking a 0/22 streak.
“Hockey is a hard sport, there are times where the puck doesn’t go in, it doesn’t end up how you want” said Poulin. “It’s for us to look in the mirror, there’s no one to blame, it’s on the girls in the room to raise up and find a way. There are five games left, it’s on us to pull up our sleeves and go forward.”
Montreal’s next game is Wednesday night in Minnesota and they have two games left before the PWHL break for the World Championship.
Notes
- The only lineup change for Montreal was in goal, where Desbiens was ruled out and Sandra Abstreiter backed up Chuli.
- It was the first game between the two teams since the PWHL Trade Deadline swap between Anna Kjellbin and Kaitlin Willoughby. Both players were in uniform against their former teams.
- Sarah Nurse returned to the lineup for Toronto after being on Long-Term Injured Reserve. It was the first game Toronto played this season without anyone on the injured list.
Standings
| TEAM | GP | GR | RW | OW | SW | OL | RL | PTS | GF | GA | MAX PTS | MAGIC | TRAGIC | #1 | HOME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 25 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 45 | 65 | 58 | 60 | 6 | 26 | 14 | 13 |
| TOR | 25 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 42 | 64 | 60 | 57 | 9 | 23 | 17 | 16 |
| BOS | 24 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 66 | 55 | 58 | 11 | 24 | 19 | 18 |
| MIN | 25 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 35 | 68 | 67 | 50 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 23 |
| OTT | 24 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 33 | 57 | 67 | 51 | 18 | 17 | 26 | 25 |
| NY | 25 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 27 | 59 | 72 | 42 | 24 | 8 | 32 | 31 |
Full Highlights
