Sarah Fillier was the first overall pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft, and has made an instant impact. After two points in her professional debut, she did one better for her first professional game in Canada, scoring her first two professional goals and adding an assist as the New York Sirens came in to Montreal and left with a 4-1 win at Place Bell.
“I don’t know that there’s a person around the hockey world that didn’t think she could come in and dominate,” said New York head coach Greg Fargo. “She has been doing it at a high level and on the world’s biggest stage. I think Sarah was ready for this challenge and for the next level, because she’s been dominating since college prior to getting here.”
Fillier scored the game’s first goal, assisted on the game-winning goal, and added a power play goal in the dying seconds of the game. She now has five points through her first two games in the PWHL.
New York had the upper hand in the opening frame, with the best scoring chances, the vast majority of the shots on goal, and used two power plays to generate the advantage. Ann-Renée Desbiens made a big save on Alex Carpenter, and another while shorthanded when Carpenter made a cross-ice pass to Abby Roque.
Eventually New York broke through for the first goal. After an Anna Kjellbin giveaway, Jessie Eldridge fired the puck at the net and Sarah Fillier picked up the loose puck and fired it past Desbiens for her first of two goals on the night.
Late in the period, Montreal’s fourth line generated some offence. Catherine Dubois had a chance in front of the net, but was unable to beat Corinne Schroeder. Schroeder wasn’t very busy in the period, needing to make only four saves as New York outshot Montreal 18-4.
“It was clear that we didn’t have our A-game and we talked about that in between periods, and how at times that will happen, that we don’t have everything clicking,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “But it’s about how do you find your B-game when your A-game isn’t going. We wanted to simplify some things, and we didn’t get the simplification that we needed.”
Early in the second period, Montreal tied the game up. Jennifer Gardiner sprung Cayla Barnes on a breakaway, and Barnes made no mistake on the backhand for her first PWHL goal. The pair of former Ohio State teammates are roommates, and Barnes had the primary assist on Gardiner’s first goal on Saturday. On Wednesday, Gardiner returned the favour.
SON PREMIER BUT DANS LA LPHF!
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) December 5, 2024
HER FIRST GOAL IN THE PWHL! pic.twitter.com/DDe68WDhcD
“For me to do that the other night, and she Uno-reversed it to me tonight, it’s exciting and I’m happy she was able to make that pass and that I was able to capitalize on it at a moment that we needed the energy. I’m just happy we got that opportunity,” Barnes said.
New York continued to get some chances, including hitting a crossbar in the first half of the period. Later in the period, Desbiens had to make another big save on Ally Simpson on the doorstep.
It was a better period for Montreal, who generated a bit more offence. Their best chance to take the lead came when Marie-Philip Poulin broke in the zone, but her shot went wide. The shots were 10-8 Montreal in the middle frame. The Victoire had a power play in the period, but did not capitalize.
Montreal had chances early in the third period, including an early power play, but was unable to capitalize on them.
Nine minutes into the third period, Fillier took the puck behind the net and made a backhand pass to Carpenter, who made no mistake from the slot, beating Desbiens for her third goal of the season, giving the Sirens a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
They continued getting chances on Desbiens, but she continued to hold down the fort. She ended the game with 32 saves on 35 shots as Montreal was outshot 36-29.
Montreal had one last chance to get back into the game when Clair DeGeorge broke into the zone and drew a hooking penalty. Before the power play started, Montreal called their timeout and when they set up for the faceoff, Ann-Renée Desbiens was on the bench, giving them a six-on-four with three minutes to go.
It wasn’t meant to be. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu native Jade Downie-Landry won a battle to the loose puck and sent it the length of the ice for the empty net goal, which made it 3-1. Because of the PWHL’s jailbreak rule, the goal also ended the power play.
“I’ve liked our success with that mindset to be aggressive,” said Cheverie. “I felt like we were going to score, and that game went from potentially being 2-2 to 4-1 like that, which happens. I think as a coaching staff it’s important to us to show our players that ‘hey, we want to win in regulation. We’re not just trying to get to OT, that’s why we pull her early and see what we can do and I like our chances. Tonight it didn’t work out.”
If you feel that Cheverie’s confidence was misguided, remember a game late last year when a similar pull ended up with Montreal not only tying the game with the goalie pulled, but scoring again to get the regulation win.
Fillier added her second of the game on a power play of their own with 18 seconds remaining.
Montreal gets right back to game action with a game in Ottawa on Friday. It will be Ottawa’s first home game at the Canadian Tire Centre, the home of the Ottawa Senators. It will be their last game before an international break that will see the PWHL pause for close to two weeks.
Notes
- Maureen Murphy, who didn’t skate at practice this week, is day-to-day and missed Wednesday’s game. Catherine Dubois made her season debut.
- Ella Shelton is also day-to-day with an injury and didn’t play. Taylor Baker and Kayla Vespa, who was signed earlier in the day, made their season debuts.
- Kori Cheverie changed the lines in the third period looking for a spark. Mikyla Grant-Mentis played with Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey. Kristin O’Neill played with Claire Dalton and Lina Ljungblom, while Alexandra Labelle centred Abby Boreen and Jennifer Gardiner.
Full Highlights
