Poulin Wins It in Triple Overtime, Series Tied

Captain Clutch delivers again, as Marie-Philip Poulin ties the series in triple overtime, evening things up 1-1 ahead of the trip to Minnesota.

In a best-of-five series, things can define themselves, and end themselves, much quicker, making this second game of the Minnesota and Montreal series a crucial one for the Victoire’s season. Minnesota took the series lead on Sunday with a 5-4 overtime win, and with that came a frustrated Montreal roster, but even more importantly, a vengeful Ann-Renée Desbiens.

A Brand New Series

This game felt like an entirely different series. There was significantly less physical play, most likely because of Britta Curl’s ejection in Game 1, and you could clearly feel the difference going from a nine-goal game to a one-goal défensive battle. According to Head Coach Kori Cheverie, today’s game was more in line with what the series was expected to look like: “I think [in Game 1] both teams were trying to figure out what this series was going to look like. How physical is it going to be? How much defence do we need to play? And I think both teams cleaned that up for Game 2.”

A Complete 60 Minutes (And More...)

To put it simply, Montreal was the better team tonight. We have rarely seen the Victoire dominate a game this much, and we witnessed a Minnesota team that was given no time in the offensive zone and struggled to even generate plays in overtime. “I thought we kept getting better as the game went on,” shared Kori Cheverie. “It felt like we were back to our regular selves.”

It took three extra periods for Montreal to tie the series, courtesy of none other than captain Marie-Philip Poulin. If there was only going to be one goal in this game, it better have been a good one, and to say this one was good would be an understatement. Poulin sniped an incredible one-timer off a feed from Abby Roque, who was still flaunting her fresh shiner, sending Place Bell into a level of craziness I have rarely seen. “We stayed confident and worked hard to get that goal, but the job’s not done,” shared the Victoire captain.

A Full Team Performance

Staying humble as always, Poulin described the win as a “team effort,” which it absolutely was. The depth players were the ones keeping pucks alive in the offensive zone and getting to loose pucks first, allowing the first line to jump on and do what they do best: find the back of the net. A lot of credit also needs to go to rookie defender Nicole Gosling. “She’s a young defenseman and typically we want to try to shelter her at times, but there was no sheltering her tonight,” Cheverie shared with a smile. “She just kept going and going and again, she was someone who kept getting better and better.”

And what can you say about Ann-Renée Desbiens, who came into tonight with a vengeance, something you definitely do not want to face if you’re wearing purple. When the “Muraille de Charlevoix” was asked whether last game’s performance affected her need to step up tonight, she brushed it off the way she always does, with calm confidence: “I didn’t really think about it, so I wasn’t worried. I’m not used to having back-to-back weak performances.”

Montreal will now ride this momentum into Minnesota, where they will play back-to-back games, something this group has never experienced before. But for Head Coach Kori Cheverie, it is important to view it as a positive and simply as another opportunity to play more hockey.

Game 3 in Minnesota will take place on Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m. EDT.