PWHL Montreal completes late comeback over Minnesota

Article content

Marie-Philip Poulin hoped Kristin O’Neill would have a breakthrough because she sees the work her teammate does every day.

O’Neill scored twice, including the game-winner with 46 seconds left, and Montreal mounted an epic comeback to beat Minnesota 4-3 on Thursday night in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Article content

O’Neill, 26, entered the night with one goal in 18 games, but finally showed her pedigree as a Canadian national team player on the PWHL stage.

Article content

“KO is someone who from day one I told how happy I was to have her on our team. She is determined and she knows how to get the little details right,” Poulin said. “When you play with heart and details day in and day out, it’s a matter of time.”

The PWHL returned to action after a nearly month-long hiatus for the world championship in Utica, New York, where Canada won gold.

O’Neill gained some offensive momentum with two goals and three assists in seven games at the World Cup.

“It really helped my confidence,” he said. “And I made it my goal to return that trust to this team in Montreal.”

World champions Poulin, O’Neill, Laura Stacey and Erin Ambrose left their fingerprints all over Montreal’s victory.

In addition to O’Neill’s two goals, Poulin and Stacey each had a goal and two assists, while Ambrose had four assists for Montreal (8-3-4-5), which snapped a four-game losing streak. Elaine Chuli made 25 saves for her sixth win in seven starts.

Montreal trailed 3-2 with 2:49 left in the game when head coach Kori Cheverie pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, and it paid off.

“It was a little early (to take out the goalie), but we felt like if we could get the momentum going that early then we could be in a position to potentially get the regulation win,” Cheverie said. “It just seemed perfect.”

Article content

Article content

Stacey fired what Minnesota head coach Ken Klee described as “a missile” past Maddie Rooney to tie the game with 2:23 left.

O’Neill then took advantage of a penalty by Minnesota’s Maggie Flaherty, scoring her second goal of the night to complete the comeback and bring the 3,084 fans at Verdun Auditorium to their feet.

“We knew he was there,” Cheverie said of O’Neill. “She is a player with such a defensive mentality that she often thinks about defense.

“She almost allows herself to play a little more freely because she’s very defensive-minded and that’s led to some offense now and we were joking, calling her a PP specialist.”

Grace Zumwinkle, Kelly Pannek and Brooke Bryant scored for Minnesota (8-4-3-5), which had its five-game winning streak snapped. Sophie Jaques had three assists and Rooney stopped 33 shots.

Montreal moved within one point of Minnesota for second place in the league standings. Both teams have four games left.

The difference Thursday night, Klee said, was special teams. Montreal’s power play, which has struggled all season, went 3-for-4 that night, and Minnesota went 1-for-2.

Article content

“When you get 3 out of 4, you have a very good chance of winning,” he said. “For me, it was the difference in the game.

“Their power play was spectacular, we failed on clearances and they made us pay for it.”

O’Neill opened the scoring on a power play at 7:22 of the first period, converting his own rebound into the side netting for his second of the season.

At 17:52, Poulin finished off a slick assist from Ambrose on a tick-tock play started by Stacey, putting Montreal up 2-0 with another power-play goal.

Minnesota changed the momentum in the second.

The visiting team took advantage of its second power-play opportunity when Zumwinkle scored her 10th of the season on a cross-ice pass from Michela Cava at 4:59 after Montreal’s Mikyla Grant-Mentis committed consecutive penalties early in the period.

Pannek tied it at 9:23 with a deft backhand past Chuli after a pass from the point by Jaques.

Minnesota took its first lead of the game 1:24 later when Bryant took advantage of a pinpoint pass from Taylor Heise for his first of the season. That advantage lasted until the final minutes of the game.

“I really liked how we reacted (in the second) and even in the third period,” Klee said. “We had a great third half, we reached three minutes and they are shooting their goalkeeper.

“Unfortunately, they get two in the last three minutes to win the game.”

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Montreal: Host Toronto on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre. It is expected to break an attendance record for women’s hockey in this venue with a capacity for 21,000 people.

Minnesota: Visit Ottawa on Saturday.

Article content

Article content