Montreal shutout in season opener
For the first time in their history, the Montreal Victoire lost the first game of their season, falling 2-0 to the Boston Fleet on Sunday afternoon at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA.
Montreal had won their previous two season openers, both against Ottawa. Their inaugural game needed overtime, while last year’s game was won in a shootout.
Aerin Frankel made 25 saves while Boston got goals from Susanna Tapani and Megan Keller to get start their season off with a win.
Tapani scored 1:13 into the game with a goal that would hold up as the game-winning goal. The game remained scoreless until the 1:42 mark of the third period when Keller scored on the power play to double the Boston lead.
Ann-Renée Desbiens 26 saves for the Victoire, including several great ones as the game could have been even more lopsided if not for her performance.
Discipline, or a lack thereof plagued Montreal as they gave Boston six power plays in the game, and it was a testament to their penalty kill that they only allowed one goal while shorthanded. Montreal did not get a power play opportunity in the game.
The line of Abby Roque, Marie-Philip Poulin, and Laura Stacey generated some offensive chances but it was not meant to be in their first official game together.
“Pou’s always going to find a way to create something, to find some momentum, and their line certainly did do that,” said head coach Kori Cheverie. “It just didn’t end up in the back of the net. We’ll make adjustments. We’ll fight through and she will make adjustments as well. I really liked some of the looks that they had and some of the momentum that they started, and some of the face offs that they ran. It’s game one.”
Earlier in the day, Montreal added their second forward to LTIR when Jade Downie-Landry was placed on the injured list. The team signed Maya Labad from their reserve roster to replace her, but she did not dress in this game as the Victoire elected to play 12 forwards and seven defenders.
Montreal now heads back home for a day off on Monday before hosting the New York Sirens in their home opener on Tuesday night at Place Bell.
Lineup
Abby Roque – Marie-Philip Poulin – Laura Stacey
Natálie Mlýnková – Shiann Darkangelo – Maureen Murphy
Dara Greig – Hayley Scamurra – Skylar Irving
Catherine Dubois – Alexandra Labelle – Kaitlin Willoughby
Nicole Gosling – Erin Ambrose
Maggie Flaherty – Kati Tabin
Jessica DiGirolamo – Amanda Boulier
Kelly-Ann Nadeau
Ann-Renée Desbiens
Sandra Abstreiter
Scratches: Maya Labad (F), Megan Warrener (G), Lina Ljungblom (F) [LTIR-Illness], Jade Downie-Landry (F) [LTIR-Upper body injury]
It was the PWHL debut for Montreal’s first three draft picks: Gosling, Mlýnková, and Irving. Five other players made their debuts for the team: Roque, Darkangelo, Scamurra, Flaherty, and DiGirolamo.
Full Highlights
