During the regular season, Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey accounted for 30 of the Montreal Victoire's 77 goals. It's the equivalent of 38.9%. of their scoring. No other duo in the PWHL came close to that lion's share of the scoring.
It's a blessing to the Montreal Victoire to have such a dynamic duo who can carry the load, but in tight checking games like the Victoire have experienced in the 2025 PWHL Playoffs, that blessing has also been a curse.
Through three games, the Victoire have scored only five goals, with two of those, or 40%, predictably coming from Poulin and Stacey.
The problem for Montreal however, is they have yet to find secondary scoring that in the postseason becomes so crucial.
Montreal's other goal scorers in the postseason are Maureen Murphy, Kristin O'Neill, and Catherine Dubois, who scored the marathon winning quadruple overtime winner for Montreal in game two. In that game, it was coach Kori Cheverie's willingness to play a more diverse selection of players that ultimately allowed Montreal to outlast Ottawa.
To ultimately win the Walter Cup however, Montreal will undoubtedly need to find a way to activate their secondary scoring.
Game Three A Prime Example
Montreal's 1-0 game three loss was a perfect example of the Victoire's dire need. Not only was the team unable to solve Ottawa netminder Gwyneth Philips, but they were unable to generate consistent zone time or chances when their top line was not on the ice.
Poulin (7) and Stacey (6) accounted for 50% of Montreal's 26 shots on the night. No other player generated more than two. Catherine Dubois and Lina Ljungblom were the only forwards with multiple shots outside of Poulin and Stacey, and Ljungblom recorded her pair in only 10:57 of ice.
Who Does Montreal Need To Lean On?
There's no denying it, Poulin and Stacey need to score. Beyond this duo however, and typical linemate Jennifer Gardiner, the Victoire need to find a second wave. During the regular season, Abby Boreen and Catherine Dubois had the next best shooting percentages among Montreal forwards. They were the only forwards outside of Poulin and Stacey to hit double digits in their shooting with Dubois scoring on 18.8% of her shots, and Boreen 11.8%. In game three however, Boreen did not register a shot.
In terms of total shots, after Stacey (112) and Poulin (98), there was a steep drop in the regular season with Gardiner (55), Boreen (51), Ljungblom (45), Dalton (45), and Grant-Mentis (43) coming next. In game three however, Dalton (4:28), Grant-Mentis (8:32), and Ljungblom (10:57) saw limited ice.
The other option for Montreal is to activate their blueline more. With Erin Ambrose, Kati Tabin, Cayla Barnes, and Anna Wilgren as their top four, there is plenty of offensive upside if they can activate their blueline more often, or find ways to get pucks through from the point.
How Does Montreal Beat Gwyneth Philips?
Philips' dominance since her gold medal save at Worlds is nothing out of the ordinary. She was nearly unbeatable in the NCAA with Northeastern earning back-to-back First Team All-American nods in her two seasons as the Huskies' starter. And in her final five games of the PWHL season, after she took over as starter from Emerance Maschmeyer following her injury, Philips was locked in.
As Erin Ambrose stated post game, Montreal needs to take away sight lines, but also need to get pucks through.
“I think we need to do a better job of taking her eyes away," said Ambrose. "I think that she is an elite goaltender. She's shown that in multiple areas, multiple games, both internationally and here. But I also think that we have elite goal scorers on this team, and we’ve just got to find a way to get dirty ones at times. And I think that that's something that all of us are wanting to do, but just aren't executing on it, so that's something that we're going to continue to focus on.”
Montreal will need to execute and get to more dangerous areas, activate more options on their roster, and take away the eyes of Philips to find the back of the net. And they have no more chances to get it right sitting one game from elimination as Ottawa leads their best-of-five series 2-1 heading into game four on Friday.