Montreal 2 – Ottawa 0 | Clearer trios

(Ottawa) Something has been happening with the Montreal team for four games.

Before the Women’s World Cup, Montreal had lost four consecutive games, including three without Marie-Philip Poulin in the lineup. Since the Canadians’ return from the World Cup, the team has won three of its four games, including Saturday’s game in Ottawa by a score of 2-0.

Not only are Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O’Neill and Erin Ambrose operating at full capacity, the rest of the team also seems to be playing with more confidence, especially offensively.

During the last three games, head coach Kori Cheverie played a lot with her lines. Sometimes Stacey, O’Neill and Poulin were together, sometimes they were scattered. Saturday’s match, the penultimate duel of the regular season, seems to have allowed the coach to finally crystallize her combinations.

While the Canadians are united on the first trio, we find Claire Dalton, Maureen Murphy and Mikyla Grant-Mentis on the second. Grant-Mentis is one of those who have been surprising for a week, since the clash at the Bell Centre.

After a rhythmic but difficult first period for the Montreal team, these two trios completely changed the momentum in the second period, notably thanks to their forecheck. Stacey gave Montreal a 1-0 lead by scoring with one of her powerful one-timers.

In the third period, it was Ann-Renée Desbiens who stood up to allow Montreal to maintain its slim lead. In this single engagement, she blocked 21 pucks, while the Montrealers only shot 5 times…

It’s a first shutout for the Charlevoix native this season.

A goal was disallowed in Ottawa for obstructing the goalkeeper – it was Desbiens herself who told her coach to request a video review – then Maureen Murphy scored her 5^e of the season thanks to a nice pass from Mélodie Daoust to make it 2-0 at the end of the match.

First row

While Ottawa came into this matchup looking for a playoff spot, Montreal is fighting to finish in first place and choose its opponent for the first round. This victory allows the team to take temporary first place, with two more games played than Toronto and Minnesota.

Once again, this meeting demonstrated one thing very clearly: when Poulin, Stacey, O’Neill and Ambrose go, everything goes. The four players were once again the most used on the Montreal side. Erin Ambrose alone spent more than 31 minutes on the ice…

For those who were wondering if the coach intended to rest her best players for the playoffs, the answer is no. We prioritize the first place within the coaching staff.

After the last match, when Kori Cheverie was asked if she planned to reduce their usage in order to allow them to rest, she exclaimed with a laugh “You, ask them (to play less)!” “.

“That’s a conversation I don’t want to have.” We have to keep all our players ready (sharp). (…) I think it would be worse for them to rest them. We’ll see how it goes with the minutes, but I don’t think I’m going to tell Pou not to play. »

Either way, based on their performance on Saturday, the tank still looks full of fuel.