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With 10 games to go in its calendar, Montreal who’s top in the standing was visiting New York, the very last team in the standings. On paper, this might have looked like an easy game for the visitors, but nothing is ever easy in the PWHL. The last time to two sides met in Laval’s Place Bell, Montreal signed a 3-2 win thanks to a Marie-Philip Poulin third-period game-winning goal. The locals had taken a 2-0 lead before seeing New York fight back to tie the game in the third period. The score is not the only thing most remember from that game however, as it was a particularly heated affair with Abby Roque and Marie-Philip Poulin having some very serious words at center ice. Then, New York got its revenge with a 3-2 over Montreal in the shootout, in New York. The locals were hoping for a repeat performance, which they kind of got, but not of the right game.
While New York came out strong in the first few minutes partly thanks to a Tereza Vanisova penalty barely a minute in, Montreal weathered the small-sized storm and was opportunistic to score the first goal of the game thanks to Jillian Dempsey’s determination. The former Boston Pride captain took a shot in close that was blocked by the defense, but she pressed on and managed to send the puck being Corinne Schroeder which seemed to stun their host.
Sarah Bujold then doubled Montreal’s lead less than 6 minutes later when she converted on a Catherine Dubois’ pass. Finally, Montreal added a third goal when Gabrielle David, who was replacing the absent Melodie Daoust on the first line, scored on a two-on-one with Marie-Philip Poulin. Tereza Vanisova then took a second trip to the penalty box, which New York capitalized on. Jessie Eldrige got New York on the scoreboard which gave both their players and fans some life back.
As always, New York played a very physical game and got itself three penalties within the first eight minutes of the second frame. They came out of it unscathed, however, mainly because the Montreal power play is producing very little. It’s not because they don’t have enough firepower to score with the advantage, but they are looking for the perfect play. The bottom line is, that if you don’t shoot, you won’t score. Before the game, their power play had a 9% success rate, now, after failing to score on their six opportunities, it stands at 7.8%. New York has no such problem however, and Abby Roque cut Montreal’s lead in half with the New Yorkers’ second power-play goal of the night while Sarah Bujold was serving two minutes for holding.
At the start of the third frame, New York was very alive until Captain Clutch, Marie-Philip Poulin, scored what would turn out to be the game-winning goal on an assist from Laura Stacey. A scenario that the New Yorkers had already lived through when they lost in Laval back in January. Jessie Eldrige did score her second of the game to make it 4-3 and New York pulled its goalie in the dying minutes, but Montreal hung on for dear life to get the regulation win. This means Montreal is still at the top of the standings, three points ahead of Toronto who also won their game last night. As for New York, they are still dead last with 16 points.
Although Montreal did pull off the win, there are some areas of concern in their game, the first of which is the power play as discussed above. In the playoffs, an ineffective power play can be the kiss of death for a team. Also, they can’t seem to hang on to an early lead, for some reason, they always allow the other team to get back into the game.
In net, Ann-Renée Desbiens looks nervous at times, especially when she’s handling the puck behind the net. In yesterday’s game only, she nearly fell skating backward and hitting the net, she almost caused a too many players on the ice penalty and she turned it over to New York once. Having a goaltender who can handle the puck well can be a blessing for a team, but having one who tries to do it with questionable results can be a curse. I know Desbiens is often called the best female goaltender in the world, but so far, Elaine Chuli has been superior on all fronts. The numbers tell us as much and so does Desbiens’ habit of committing at least one blunder per game.
Montreal will now travel to Toronto to face Sarah Nurse and co. on Friday night in what will be a meeting at the top of the standings, Toronto only trailing Montreal by three points. It is unknown right now whether Melodie Daoust will be with the team for that game, but her presence would sure be welcome.
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