Montreal’s Persistence Pays Off With First-Ever Victory over Toronto

It was a tale of two different trending teams as Toronto and Montreal faced off at Coca-Cola Coliseum today. The Sceptres entered the game needing to flip the script in a number of ways -- face-offs, special teams, winning puck battles, and scoring first.

They accomplished part of that in the first period by killing two penalties, and getting on the board first when Jesse Compher, who has been one of the bright spots for the Sceptres in the early going, displayed great individual skill by scoring from her knees from the face-off dot.

It was Toronto’s Sarah Nurse who got a fortunate bounce off a Renata Fast shot just 40 seconds after Compher’s goal to double the home team’s lead late in the first period. With the Victoire outshooting them 14-9, the Sceptres gladly accepted the breaks that came their way.

Rookie Raygan Kirk showed poise in making some important saves while the Victoire poured on the pressure and rang the puck off the post three times in the opening frame.

Playing with determination for their backup goaltender held special meaning in this one for Toronto, who were honoring last season’s backup, Erica Howe. The retired netminder is battling breast cancer and was at the game. Players on both teams as well as other supporters wore special toques as well, and gestures made throughout showed the significance of the afternoon’s Cancer Awareness theme, with Howe the natural focus for many.

Four minutes into the second period, though, it was a highly skilled play from Abby Boreen that cut the lead in half. The former Minnesota Frost player walked defender Fast inside and out, then fired a wrist shot over Kirk’s glove.

Both teams made lineup changes and line adjustments for the contest, one of which saw Maureen Murphy playing only her second game for the Victoire, who hadn’t played in 15 days. Murphy got in on the scoring when she tipped a shot by Amanda Boulier under Kirk’s pad to tie the game at 2-2.

Toronto persisted in their hard net drives, and Izzy Daniel cashed in at 15:26 to restore the lead. Shots were still heavily in Montreal’s favor, however, and a key turning point in the third seemed to set up the win for the Victoire.

Rylind MacKinnon lunged for a puck as Amanda Boulier reached for it along the boards, and as they collided, MacKinnon’s arm caught Boulier in the head. The defender was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

Although Toronto (down to only five defenders) killed off the five minute advantage, it was immediately afterwards that Lina Ljungblom crashed the net and scooped up her own rebound up and over Kirk to tie the game. Even though the Sceptres had never trailed in the game, the goal appeared to take away any positive momentum for the struggling squad.

Sure enough, as the overtime period got underway, a miscue in the offensive zone between Jocelyne Larocque and Emma Maltais gave the puck to Montreal’s two most potent forwards: Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey.

Stacey raced in alone on Kirk with speed and with one quick move to her backhand, and cashed in with the game-winning goal to seal the first-ever win for the Victoire over Toronto.

Montreal is now in third place with seven points, and Toronto is tied for last with Ottawa, having only four points on the season.