Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 40 of 41 shots in regulation and turned away all five Minnesota Frost attempts in the shootout as the Montreal Victoire escaped Place Bell with their 15th win of the season.
It’s unusual to see Montreal on the back foot as much as they were on Tuesday night. Montreal has been the class of the PWHL’s sophomore season, coming into the game seven points ahead of the second place Toronto Sceptres.
Perhaps the team’s intensity has naturally diminished, given that the team is virtually assured of a post-season position despite having one-third of the campaign still to play.
Perhaps this is simply regression to the mean, as the Victoire’s 8–3–1–2 start to the season had given way to a more pedestrian 2-1-0-2 since the February international break.
Or perhaps it was the opposition: of Montreal’s four regulation losses thus far, two have been to the Frost. In fact, Minnesota is the only team to have defeated the Victoire multiple times this season.
Regardless of the reason, the Victoire played much of the match on their heels and found it difficult to assert themselves. From the get-go, Minnesota’s aggressive forecheck and neutral zone press wreaked havoc with Montreal’s zone exits and transition play. Montreal also had difficulty winning board battles in the offensive zone to generate sustained zone time, a trend that would persist for most of the night.
The Victoire’s answer to Minnesota’s early pressure was Desbiens, who played heroine four or five times in the opening frame to keep the game scoreless. Ironically, Montreal’s best minutes of the period came during a late Minnesota power play. With Lina Ljungblom in the box for playing with a broken stick, the Victoire penalty killers blocked four shots and created some momentum for the team. The successful penalty kill was followed up by a solid shift in the Frost zone, setting the tone for the intermission.
Despite a 13-4 Minnesota advantage on the shot clock, Montreal would strike first. From the faceoff, Marie-Philip Poulin sent the puck into the Victoire zone. Erin Ambrose and Kati Tabin successfully deflected the Frost forecheck, sending the puck to Jennifer Gardiner at the blueline, who whipped a pass cross-ice to a sprinting Laura Stacey. Stacey took the puck off the boards in full stride, cutting across the net and sliding a backhand past Maddie Rooney to give the Victoire a 1-0 lead.
Elle est à un autre niveau ?
She’s on another level pic.twitter.com/LpjXgSMHOi
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) March 5, 2025