For the third time this season, PWHL fans were treated to a showdown between the league’s top two teams in PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Montreal. Despite all the overtime games played this season, these two teams handled their business in 60 minutes, and that was the outcome once again. Both clubs had won 3 of their last 4 games coming into this matchup, with both teams’ losses having by 3-goal deficits at PWHL Toronto. Minnesota went with Maddie Rooney in goal for this one, with Kori Cheverie opting to go with Elaine Chuli.

               The opening period of the game was for all intents and purposes slower than the usual faire from these two teams, with most of the action being contained to cycles in the offensive zone, rather than the usual north and south play of Minnesota and Montreal respectively. Less than 4 minutes into the game, Claire Dalton was able to give Montreal an early lead on a powerplay goal with assists from Kati Tabin and Leah Lum. The opening 6 minutes or so of the period were dominated by Montreal, with Minnesota failing to register a shot on goal until a solo effort from Grace Zumwinkle that did not lead to any scoring. The period reached a point of stasis until Kendal Coyne Schofield scored her 4^th goal of the season on an assist from Claire Butorac. The second period was more open than the first, with both teams finding more success in carving out scoring chances on plays in transition. Just past the 14-minute mark Sarah Lefort was able to put a shot past Rooney with assists from Madison Bizal and Kristin O’Neill. The third period was the most exciting of the three frames, with both teams creating exciting plays in transition through the neutral zone. Minnesota, with Rooney pulled, threw as much as they could at Chuli in the games dying minutes, only to stonewalled. It is worth noting that there was some confusion in the closing seconds of the game as Sophie Jacques and multiple players stopped moving with 6 seconds left on the clock for no discernable reason from onlookers. At the time of writing, there has been no public explanation from the league as to what caused this.

               The biggest takeaways from this game are both positives for the victorious PWHL Montreal. Elaine Chuli continues her winning streak as the only unbeaten goalkeeper left in the PWHL, which is a great sign for a team that already boasts one of the top starters in the league in Ann-Renée Desbiens. The other key outcome in this game was Montreal being able to win in a game where their top performers don’t dominate the scoresheet. Moving forward, knowing that they can win games where Marie-Philip Poulin, Maureen Murphy, and Laura Stacey don’t factor into any of the team’s goals is a massive confidence boost. Following this game, Montreal returns to action on Wednesday night at New York, and Minnesota is off until next Sunday afternoon at home against Boston.