Laura Stacey scored with 2:24 left in overtime and Montreal won its third straight game by beating Boston 2-1 on Sunday at the Tsongas Center.
Erin Ambrose scored Montreal’s other goal and Marie-Philip Poulin had two assists. Maureen Murphy collected her seventh assist of the season on her team’s first goal.
Elaine Chuli was in front of the Montreal team’s net. She repelled 26 shots and signed a third victory in as many starts.
“I’m happy that we came out with the victory,” said the goalkeeper. In overtime, the game opens up a lot. I am very proud of the group. »
Although Montreal’s primary goalie is Ann-Renée Desbiens, Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie said her team always had a chance to win when Chuli was in net.
“It was no different tonight,” Cheverie said. She continues to look more and more comfortable with each match and once again she gave us a great performance. »
Sophie Shirley scored for Boston. It was his first goal of the campaign. Aerin Frankel made 28 saves for Boston.
Both teams were back in action after the NHL All-Star Weekend break. A few players were in Toronto for the occasion, as a three-on-three match between some of the LPHF’s best stars took place on Thursday.
Montreal had a difficult start to the match, having difficulty getting the puck out of its territory. This allowed Boston to shoot a few times at Chuli’s net, but the goalie didn’t give in.
Montreal got its first chance to score almost nine minutes into the opening period. Tereza Vanisova was alone between the two faceoff circles, in Boston territory, and fired a wrist shot that Frankel caught and kept in his possession.
Brandt took the first penalty of the game, midway through the first period to give Montreal a numerical advantage.
Montreal, which had scored just one goal on 24 power plays before Sunday’s game, threatened the net in the second minute on Brandt’s penalty, but failed to find the back of the net.
The team was also unable to take advantage of a numerical advantage later in the game.
Cheverie, however, does not seem worried about the lack of goals scored by his team in this situation.
“I liked the way our power play looked,” Cheverie said. It created a lot of rhythm for us. »
With 4:01 remaining in the first period, Ambrose opened the scoring for Montreal with his second goal of the season. The attacker made her way to the net and beat Frankel with a backhand, between the pads.
Despite a rather slow start to the match, Montreal finished the first period with a 9-4 advantage in shots.
As in the first period, Boston had a better start to the period than Montreal in the second. Chuli kept his team in the game by stopping three dangerous shots in less than a minute. Boston got the first six shots of the period and Montreal still hadn’t put a shot on Frankel’s net after eight minutes of play.
At 4:12 of play in the third period, Shirley finally beat the Montreal goalkeeper to tie the score.
Sarah Bujold committed a turnover near her net, wanting to get rid of the disc, but Brandt was close and intercepted it. Brandt immediately pushed the puck toward her teammate, who was in a good position to shoot, and Shirley scored.
Chuli mentioned after the match that Bujold apologized to her goalkeeper for her change of heart.
“She came to see me later in the match,” Chuli said, laughing. Everything was correct. This kind of thing can happen. »
Both teams exchanged a few good scoring chances in the final minutes of regulation, but no one was able to break the tie and overtime was necessary.
On a two-on-one climb, Ambrose passed the puck to Stacey, who only had to redirect it towards the net, completely open. Poulin started the play after recovering the puck near his blue line, following a pass that was almost intercepted by Boston.
“Ambrose gave me a nice pass,” Stacey said. She was very patient, because there were several sticks in the way. I knew she would be able to reach me. »