BLACK STITCH HOCKEY

Where Goon meets Glitz, from the Ice to the Armchair, balanced and objective hockey analysis and reporting.

Boston Fleet @ Montréal Victoire: My Liver Will Handle What My Heart Can’t

by

Christian

The Ides of March was the perfect setup for the best rivalry in hockey as the Boston Fleet visited the Montréal Victoire. To even more spectacle, this was a matchup between the first and second ranked teams in the PWHL. Ahead of puck drop the Fleet were 9-4-2-3 (37p and 68.5p%) while the Victoire were 9-4-0-5 (35p and 64.8p%). Both teams also led the league in goals against with 29 and 25 respectively. The Fleet started Aerin Frankel and the Victoire opted for Ann-Renée Desbiens (like there was any other option). 

Montréal put the screws to Boston as soon as the puck was down. The vaunted Fleet defense struggled to create zone exits, and the impressive Victoire forward group set the tone. Boston’s point shots were denied consistently, while the Victoire used these blocks to create counterattacks, where Laura Stacey and Nicole Gosling were able to create early chances. Shortly after, Rylind MacKinnon was naughty and tripped a Victoire player, leading to the first dangerous Victoire power play. Forty seconds in, Gosling got the puck to Marie-Philip Poulin, who wired a missile past Frankel. Hannah Brandt, not learning any lessons from MacKinnon’s mistake, illegally body checked a Victoire player, cutting a rut to the penalty box. Kati Tabin re-educated the Fleet on discipline by sniping another ripper past Frankel to extend their lead to 2-0. Total shots were 14-6 in favor of Montréal.

The second period opened with some pressure from the Fleet. Gosling put more pressure on her team by boarding Alina Müller in the fourth minute of the frame. Haley Winn and Laura Kluge had looks on the advantage, but could not solve Desbiens. After the penalty expired, Montréal mounted a steady attack with Abby Roque landing several shots on Frankel in tight; however, it was on a counterattack where Roque would find success. After an unsuccessful pinch by Megan Keller and a questionably timed check by Stacey on Müller, the Victoire had a 3-on-1, and Roque succeeded in getting the puck past Frankel to extend the lead to 3-0. Boston did not put another puck on net in the second. The Victoire once again outshot the Fleet 11 to 6 in the second frame.

The third period started with the Fleet applying pressure, which led to two=way action with Golsing and Jill Saulnier both having decent shots on goal. At the 6:01 mark, Loren Gabel got the Fleet on the board with an assist from Hadley Hartmetz. The game’s flow and momentum took a jarring turn at 7:35 in the period when a violent hit by Maggie Flaherty to the head of Saulnier sent Saulnier to the tunnel with a major head injury, and Flaherty to the tunnel with 5-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct. The Fleet did not answer on the power play, but Megan Keller drew them within one in the eighteenth minute. Frankel went to the bench with less than two minutes remaining. With fifteen seconds remaining on the clock, Susanna Tapani found the equalizer to send the game to overtime. 

The overtime period did not last long. Stacey, Tapani, and Jade Downie-Landry all had great looks in the opening seventy seconds of the three-on-three. However, it was Ella Huber on an assist from Megan Keller that completed the comeback for the Fleet.

For Montréal, the biggest conversation after this game will be around the severity of Poulin’s lower body injury that she sustained early in the game. While she was available, the Victoire felt unstoppable for the league’s best defensive team (not counting the Victoire themselves), but we’ve seen that this group can win with some comfort while Captain Clutch is up in the press box. Boston looked terrible for fifty minutes in this game, and it shouldn’t take a debilitating injury to a core culture player like Saulnier to light a fire under them. That said, their best players continue to be their best players. At even strength, Frankel was tremendous, because you can’t fault a goalie in a 3-on-1 with two of the PWHL’s bearing down on her. Keller and Müller have been unbelievable since the Olympics started, and they’ve carried their ability to elevate their play in the biggest moments back important PWHL matchups. These teams only confirmed that they are as good as we think they are.

  • Christian

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