Boston Fleet Defeat Montreal in a Shootout, 3-2

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On Tuesday night, the Boston Fleet returned to Tsongas Center to play the first-place team in the PWHL, the Montreal Victoire (10-6-3-5), before a crowd of 3,375. The Fleet (8-6-4-6) made news before the game by activating Hadley Hartmetz from the long-term injury list. These are the top two teams in the league at the moment, and it usually takes them extra time to find a winner.

Emma Soderberg (22 saves on 20 shots) got the start for the Fleet on Tuesday night. She came into that game with a 0-2-1 record, a 3.39 GAA, and a .879%. For Montreal, Ann-Renee Desbiens with a 13-2-1-1 record, 1.77 GAA, .934%. Her numbers ranked her second in the league in netminders. The story of the first period was about penalties taken by Montreal. Four of them to be exact. Montreal’s penalty killing was at 80.8% (14/73) while Boston’s power play was working at 17.7% (11/62). Montreal was able to kill off the first three Fleet power plays. On the fourth, Hilary Knight scored the game’s first goal at 19:08 on a redirect of a Sidney Morin point shot. The power-play goal for Knight was her 13th of the year and the 12th for the Fleet on the power-play. It was 1-0 Boston as they went to the locker room. Shots were 11-6 Boston with many of them coming on the PP.

The second period started with Boston taking a penalty when Hannah Brandt went off for tripping at 1:41. The Fleet have the best penalty-killing unit in the league at 87.5% on the kill. Montreal’s power play was at a 14.9% rate. Boston would kill the penalty and it was back to 5-on-5 hockey. Montreal would tie the game after the PP was over. Amanda Boulier got her first of the season at 6:08. The assists went to Lina Ljungblon and Clair Degeorge. With 13 minutes left in the second, it was now a 1-1 game.

Boston retook the lead at 11:47 on a beautiful goal by Susanna Tapani, her 10th of the season. The goal was set up by a nice pass from Knight (G, A), who led Tapani (G, A) into the Montreal zone on the left side. She fired a wrist shot above the shoulder of Desbiens for a 2-1 lead for the Fleet. At the 13:10 mark Desbiens (17 saves on 19 shots) would need to.be helped off the ice with an apparent leg injury. She took the hit from a Boston player crashing the net. It was something that the Fleet had been doing since the game began. Elaine Chuli (10 shots, 10 saves) was now in goal for Montreal.

Montreal would go back on the PP at 15:30 when the Fleet’s Sidney Morin was sent off for interference. Anna Wilgren would get the power play as she rang a shot off the right post past Soderberg. The goal was Wilgren’s second of the season and was assisted by Amander Boulier (G, A) and Kati Tabin. The game was tied in the latter stages of the second period and would end at 2-2. Montreal had 11 shots on net to Boston’s 10. Two-period totals were 21 for the Fleet and 18 for the Victoire.

The third period was going to be a fun one and the game was getting chippy, While there was more physical play and penalties, the third period would end scoreless, and for the fourth time this year, overtime would be needed. Shots in the third were 8 for Montreal, 26 through three periods. Boston had 4, for a three-period total of 25.

While the overtime had some great end-to-end action, a shootout would be necessary to decide a winner. Boston would win the shootout 3-2. Alina Müller, Susanna Tapani, and Hilary Knight were the scorers in the shootout for the Fleet. Montreal got goals from Erin Ambrose and Marie-Phillip Poulin.

After the game, both coaches were asked about playing extra time against each other. Montreal’s coach Kari Cheverie thought” Great goaltending and tight checking.” may be the reason. She thought her team did a great job of “battling back from early adversity” especially in the first period with the penalties they took. Coach Courtney Kessell said both teams are “very structured teams.”

Hadley Hartmetz on playing her first game with the Fleet said, “It was awesome and a long time coming.” For Boston, this was their only game of the week while Montreal has a game with Toronto.