PWHL Montreal entered the PWHL playoffs as an opening round favorite to advance beyond PWHL Boston. Three games later, Montreal was swept and heading home, while Boston is on to the Walter Cup final. Here's a look at what went wrong for Montreal.
PWHL Montreal entered the PWHL playoffs as an opening round favorite to advance beyond PWHL Boston. Three games later, Montreal was swept and heading home, while Boston is on to the Walter Cup final. Here's a look at what went wrong for Montreal.
PWHL Montreal entered their opening round playoff series against PWHL Boston as the favorite. Montreal fought for first place in the PWHL standings for much of the season, while Boston looked out of the race, clawing their way into contention, and needing help from Ottawa to make the playoffs.
Few would have predicted Boston would quickly sweep and send home Montreal to open the PWHL playoffs, but that's exactly what happened.
Bench Management Benches Hopes
Kori Cheverie couldn't have predicted PWHL Montreal and Boston would go to three straight overtime games, including a marathon triple overtime game two. The problem is, not predicting for and not planning for are two different things. Montreal leaned almost exclusively on two lines all series, and ran Erin Ambrose at an unsustainable pace on the blueline. In game two, both of Boston's goals came from their fourth line in Amanda Pelkey and the overtime winner from Taylor Wenczkowski. Bench management was a critique against Montreal following game two, and it didn't change Montreal's path, which was a path to elimination. In game three, the inability to sustain was the story. Montreal jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and second, outshooting Boston 18-7 in the first, falling to 7-7 in the second, and seeing Boston outshoot them, and tie the game at 2-2 in the third. In overtime, it was over quickly, as Montreal didn't register a shot, and Boston's Susanna Tapani scored the winner.
Ambrose averaged more than 40 minutes in ice, while Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O'Neill, and Kati Tabin all topped 35 minute averages.
Perhaps no quote personified Montreal's belief there was only one way to win than when Cheverie claimed after being eliminated that Montreal "probably outplayed them for ten (periods).” PWHL Boston head coach Courtney Kessel fired back about Cheverie's belief saying "Good for her. Here we are, we’re heading onto the championship.”
Montreal Lost The Goaltending Battle
It was a trend for Montreal goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens where most of the goals she allowed not only in the World Championship but, also key goals in this playoff run while she was coming off her post. The first two overtime goals could be tied to this issue, as was Sophie Shirley's third period goal where Desbiens' RVH (Reverse Vertical Horizontal) was again off. Conversely, Aerin Frankel was spectacular throughout the series. She faced more high danger shots from the house, and more shots overall dealing with 145 shots through three games. That total was 43 additional shots compared to Desbiens in that stretch. Frankel, who broadcasters nicknamed "The Green Monster" in a truly Boston reference, finished the series with a 0.97 GAA and 0.972 save percentage.
Injuries and Depth
While Montreal didn't play the depth they had, they were hurt by injuries as well. Dominika Laskova, Kennedy Marchment, Ann-Sophie Bettez, and Sarah Bujold were all key subtractions from Montreal's roster. Montreal found excellent value in Mikyla Grant-Mentis who as a free agent addition ended up on the wing on Montreal's top line, and reserve Melodie Daoust joined the second line. But the ascension of those players also showed Montreal's view that their pre-existing depth players were unable to move up the lineup when needed. Boston on the other hand was without Taylor Girard, Jamie Lee Rattray, and Loren Gabel for most of this series, and instead of overloading their remaining core, they chose to distribute ice and again the result was goals from players outside their top six in Pelkey and Sophie Shirley.