The loss of a player of the caliber of Marie-Philip Poulin would hurt any team. Montreal felt the effects somewhat on Sunday evening.
Deprived of one of the best players in the world, the Montreal attack took time to get going and Ottawa triumphed 4-2 at Place Bell.
It’s not for lack of effort, however.
Kori Cheverie’s team was not perfect, but they gave themselves several chances to score during the match. Goalkeeper Emerance Maschmeyer was busy making key saves and the finishing of a player like Poulin was ultimately lacking.
Blanked in Toronto on Friday evening, the Montreal team (10-4-3) finally saw its scoreless drought end after 127 minutes and 47 seconds, but it was not able to erase two deficits of two goals.
While the hard work is there, it seems that it’s now just about one thing that’s very popular in the hockey world: the little details.
“It’s about going to the net, but having an intention. To have the stick blade ready, to be physical in front of the net and to veil the goalie, observed attacker Sarah Dufort. All the goalkeepers are good in this league and you have to stand out. »
Poulin appeared to injure his leg following contact with Toronto forward Sarah Nurse on Friday. There is official talk of a lower body injury and Cheverie mentioned that her star player’s condition will be re-evaluated daily.
In the absence of Poulin, it was Kristin O’Neill who piloted the first trio alongside Laura Stacey and Tereza Vanisova. The three players had some good offensive breakthroughs, but they will probably have to work harder if their captain were to miss several games.
“Marie-Philip is a very good player and we miss her,” admitted Stacey. You all know the impact she can have in a match and we know it too. We did our best to fill that void and work together, but we came up short today. We will return to work and we will try to find solutions for the next match. »
Cheverie wasn’t entirely satisfied with her players’ performance on Sunday, but she understood that the circumstances may not have been easy. Beyond the injury to Poulin, attacker Claire Dalton was also missing and it was a third match in five days for Montreal.
The coach nevertheless believes that her team will be able to turn things around, after losing two games in a row for the first time this season.
“The strength of our team lies in our depth. The coaching staff and I didn’t like our special teams tonight, but it was a busy week. We suffered significant injuries too. It’s not easy, but there’s no excuse. Our group stayed in the match and we showed resilience,” underlined Cheverie.
Stacey ended Montreal’s long drought in the third period, and Mélodie Daoust added a goal. Ann-Renée Desbiens gave up three times in 32 shots.
In front of a crowd of more than 10,000 spectators, Montreal suffered a first defeat in regulation time at home this season and a first setback against Ottawa (5-6-5), after winning the three previous duels.
Brianne Jenner, Daryl Watts, Aneta Tejralova and Gabbie Hughes scored for Ottawa. Katerina Mrazova participated in three of her goals while Maschmeyer made 34 saves.
Before the meeting, Chantal Machabée, vice-president of hockey communications for the Montreal Canadiens, Annie Larouche, president of the Montreal Alliance, Claudine Douville, describer at RDS, and Valérie Tétreault, director of the National Bank Open , were honored and they placed the protocol throw-in.
The Montreal team will return to action next Sunday, when they face Toronto at PPG Paints Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Running out of fuel
Both teams deployed attacks in waves in the first half, but it was the visitors who were more insistent. Their work was rewarded on a power play with 37 seconds left.
Jenner first served a nice cross pass to Watts, but she was frustrated by Desbiens. A few seconds later, Mrazova made the same play towards Jenner, who found an opening to move the ropes.
The Montrealers once again sinned by indiscipline in the second period, but they managed to eliminate a numerical disadvantage of two women for 44 seconds to keep their opponents within reach.
You would have thought that the wind would change sides at this point, but Ottawa had other ideas in mind. During a quick counter-attack, Mrazova left the puck behind for Watts, who fired a precise wrist shot to deceive Desbiens’ vigilance.
The Cheverie players responded by increasing the pressure and sent a lot of pucks towards Maschmeyer’s net, without registering on the scoreboard.
The long journey through the desert finally ended midway through the final third, during a power play. Placed at the point, Stacey fired a one-timer that slipped behind the Ottawa goalie.
The celebrations, however, only lasted about two minutes, when Tejralova also took advantage of a numerical superiority to beat Desbiens. Daoust gave Montreal hope with just under three minutes remaining, but Hughes drove the final nail into an empty net.