For PWHL Montreal, Clutch Can Also Be Spelled With A "K"

We all know Marie-Philip Poulin is Captain Clutch, but Kristin O'Neill is proving clutch can also be spelled with a "K" in Montreal.

If you are a fan of pro wrestling, you are then familiar with WWE superstar and Montréal’s own, “KO” Kevin Owens. Well, Montreal has another “KO” in town and she might as well be as much of a fighter as Owens.

Kristin O'Neill, Montreal's 26-year-old star forward got hit last night against Boston. A lot. A whole lot. It’s started with Kaleigh Fratkin, a few minutes into the match, a huge hit along the boards. O’Neill even lost her stick on the play. And then, it came from every angle and from everybody. Kelly Babtsock near the board, Emily Brown in front of the net, Lexie Adzija as KO was on her knees, Jessica DiGirolamo after she got beat by O’Neill, Susanna Tapani in Boston’s zone, and last but not least, Sidney Morin, with a glove in the face in the second overtime.

Bear in mind that O’Neill is not the tallest, quite the contrary. At 5-foot-4, she’s one of the shortest in Montreal, two inches below the team’s average. But as the saying goes, "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

She’s feisty, will get in your face if needed, and even though she got hit and fell a lot, she got back up every single time. But more importantly, she was not afraid to go back in front of the net and say “Thank you, may I have another?”

At one point during the second period, she was on the receiving end of a hard cross-check in the face by none other than Megan Keller. KO fell, but, rightfully so, didn’t answer to her aggressor. The blow was called. One of the few the referees got right Saturday night.

1:21 seconds later, she answered the best way possible. Kristin O'Neill completed a play by Erin Ambrose and Maureen Murphy, and scored the tying goal for Montreal.

That’s a playoff-style player right there.

Drafted first in the second round by Montreal, everyone knew she was good, but since coming back from winning a third gold medal at the World Championship, O'Neill's elevated her game. She can play center, on the wing, she’s a face-off beast, and is more than worthy of the three-year contract she got at the beginning of the season.

Add to that the fact she has played over 50 minutes last night, with a face-off win percentage of 65%, and six shots on goal, and you have yourself another clutch player to back-up Marie-Philip Poulin.