MONTRÉAL, QC (April 24, 2024) – Ann-Renée Desbiens made 31 saves and Montréal converted twice on the advantage as they beat New York 5-2 at Verdun Auditorium on Wednesday.
With the regulation win, Montréal officially clinches a playoff berth— they’re the second PWHL team to earn a postseason spot, after Toronto did so on April 20.
New York is officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
Desbiens, who was named the game’s first star, started strong, making 14 saves in the first period, allowing her team to head to the first intermission with a one-goal lead despite being outshot 14-6.
The 30-year-old netminder also had a busy third period, as New York pressed to try and keep their own playoff hopes alive down 4-1 in the game, pulling goaltender Corinne Schroeder on two separate occasions.
Desbiens stopped 11 of 12 in the final frame, including a save in which the netminder dove back and swiped the puck aside as it headed towards the goal line.
Montréal’s powerplay went 2-for-4, and they’ve now recorded six powerplay goals in their last three games.
Their first on the advantage came in the second period, off the stick of Kristin O’Neill, her third powerplay goal in as many games.
Marie-Philip Poulin fed the puck to O’Neill down low—she then pivoted out front and put a shot on net before converting on her own rebound to make the game 2-0 at 9:10 of the second period.
After Catherine Dubois scored her second of the season to make the game 3-0, Montréal’s powerplay once again came up big, with Laura Stacey getting her ninth goal of the season and third on the advantage.
Stacey, who was posted at the left hash marks, took a feed from Erin Ambrose and one-timed the puck through Schroeder’s pads to make the game 4-0 at 14:46 of the second period. O’Neill drew the secondary assist, her second point of the evening.
Ella Shelton stopped Desbiens’ shutout bid with 13 seconds remaining in the second frame, scoring an unassisted tally on a breakaway to make the game 4-1.
With the game 4-2 after New York’s Alexandra Labelle scored her first goal of the season, a shorthanded marker, the road team pulled Schroeder with 4:19 remaining in the third.
New York only managed to get one shot on goal during their 6-on-5 advantage, as Montréal blocked four shots before Mélodie Daoust put the game away with an empty netter, her third goal of the season. Daoust signed her second 10-day contract of the season earlier in the day – Wednesday’s game was her fourth appearance of the season.
Montréal’s penalty kill also came up big in the game, killing all six New York opportunities, including three in the first period.
Montréal now sits tied for first in points with Toronto with 38 on the season. Toronto has a game in hand and holds the tiebreaker.
Desbiens now has six wins on the season. Schroeder made 20 saves in the loss.
Up next, Montréal jostles for playoff positioning as they take on fourth-place Ottawa on Saturday at The Arena at TD Place. The next day, New York hosts Toronto for an afternoon tilt at UBS Arena.
Postgame Quotes:
Montréal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens: “Some days, things work a little better, they hit the post a little more, things like that. There are just days like that. I think that for me it was going up in the first period. We all knew we didn’t have our best period, but we were up 1-0. It gives you confidence as a group.”
Montréal head coach Kori Cheverie: “I am very proud of our group. I am proud of their perseverance. I think our group has come a long way. I couldn’t have imagined the season any better. It’s nice to enjoy the moment, but there is season left to be done.”
Notes:
- Attendance: 3,232– Verdun Auditorium, Montréal, QC.
- Three Stars: 1) Ann-Renée Desbiens 2) Kristin O’Neill 3) Maureen Murphy
- Shots ended 33-25 in favour of New York — They led the category in the first (14-6) and third (12-3), but Montréal had the advantage in the second (16-7).
- New York outshot an opponent for the third time all season and second time in three games.
- Montréal’s three shots in the third period is their lowest single period total of the season.
- Ella Shelton (NY) led all players with six shots on goal – Teammates Alexandra Labelle and Alex Carpenter finished second with five shots apiece.
- O’Neill led all Montréal players with four shots on goal — The forward now has 18 shots in her last three games played.
- Montréal was 2/4 on the powerplay — New York was 0/6.
- Jaime Bourbonnais (NY) led all players with 30:48 of ice time — Shelton finished second with 30:31 TOI.
- Erin Ambrose finished first in ice-time for Montréal, logging 27:36.
- Desbiens is tied with teammate Elaine Chuli and Corinne Schroeder (NY) for fifth in the league with six wins.
- Marie-Philip Poulin now sits alone atop the PWHL scoring race with 22 points (9G, 13A) in 19 GP — She remains the only PWHL player averaging greater than a point-per-game at 1.16.
- Ambrose (2A) and Poulin move into a two-way tie for first in the PWHL assist category with 13 apiece on the season — Laura Stacey (1G) moves into a three-way tie for third in goals scored in the PWHL with nine on the season.
- Ambrose (17 points) now sits in a tie for seventh in league scoring and Stacey (16 points) now sits alone in ninth in the category — Ambrose is the lone defender in the top 10 in league scoring.
- Poulin has 13 points in her last seven games (2G, 11A) and is on a three-game point streak.
- Ambrose has seven points in her last three games (1G, 6A) and is on a three-game point streak and finished with points in seven straight home games.
- Stacey extended her point streak to three games.
- Catherine Daoust scored her first goal of the season in her 22nd game and on her 15th shot.
- Mélodie Daoust scored a goal in each of her three home games.
- Shelton’s fifth goal of the season moves her into first place in goals among all PWHL defenders — She sits second in points with 14 (5G, 9A).
- Montréal played its final home game of the season and finished with seven wins and 23 points in 11 games on home ice – They won four straight games at Verdun Auditorium and earned 14 of a possible 18 points at the venue – Montréal was also the home team at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.
- New York played its final road game of the season and finished with five wins and 14 points.
- Montréal wins the season series between the two teams, taking four of five games and finishing with a 13-2 advantage in head-to-head points.
- Montréal (9-3-5-5) currently sits in second place with 38 points on the season — They have three more than third place Minnesota and six more than fourth place Ottawa — Both teams have a game in hand.
- New York (3-4-3-11) becomes the first team eliminated from playoff contention — They now have three games to collect ‘Draft Order Points’ towards earning the first overall pick.
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