The Montreal Victoire struggled to generate offense in a sluggish home performance, while Maddie Rooney backstopped the Frost to their biggest win of the season.
The Montreal Victoire struggled to generate offense in a sluggish home performance, while Maddie Rooney backstopped the Frost to their biggest win of the season.
The Minnesota Frost handed the Montreal Victoire its first loss in seven games, snapping a six-game winning streak on Feb. 18. Montreal remains in first place of the PWHL standings despite the loss.
The Frost prevailed 4-0, thanks to goals from Liz Schepers, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and two goals from Denisa Křížová. Coyne Schofield’s goal extended her point streak to four games.
It was a noticeably bleak energy compared to the usual liveliness of Place Bell. A mere 6,696 fans were in attendance, with the 70 cm (27.5 inches) of snow that pelted the city of Montreal playing a factor. The lull in energy manifested on the ice, in a rather lethargic showing for the home team.
“We could tell that the team was a little flatter than what they usually are,” said Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie. “You can feel it. You can tell when your team is just not having the level of executionin the detail. In those moments, it’s not about trying to help them find it [...] it’s not about being harder on them. It’s about trying to help them find a solution, because they know. They feel it.”
The past two games for Montreal have registered low shot quanity. In the matchup against the New York Sirens last Saturday, the Victoire mustered just 23 shots. On Tuesday, Montreal managed just 21 shots, and didn’t break the 20-shot mark until under five minutes remaining in regulation. The difference for Kori Cheverie between both games was the quality of chances.
“Quality and location,” Cheverie specified. “Because that aat the end of the day is what gives us expected goals and our ability to win games, and tonight, we didn’t have enough inner slot shots.”
Credit does go to Minnesota netminder Maddie Rooney, who’s performance merited her first shutout of the 2024-25 campaign. It was also Montreal’s first instance of being shutout on home ice.
“I thought we shut it down defensively,” expressed Rooney post-game.
“[Rooney] made a lot of great saves,” said Victoire forward Laura Stacey, who finished with a team-high six shots on the day. “We didn’t have a crazy amount of traffic in front [...] We gotta give her credit too. She’s a great goaltender.”
Montreal will look to bounce back at practice over the next few days before traveling to Ottawa for a game against the Charge on Saturday, Feb. 22. Puck-drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST at TD Place.