The Montreal Victoire continue to look to find ways to score more goals. They've shuffled lines, including on their top unit. Has it worked?
There’s not a lot of goals being scored this season in the PWHL. As of today, the average is 4.47 goals a game, compared to 4.90 last year.
So, except perhaps Minnesota, who leads with 44 goals in 14 games, pretty much every team tries to find a solution in order to score more.
The Montreal Victoire are in the middle of the pack with 30 goals scored in 14 games, a little below the average.
The first line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Abby Roque and Laura Stacey has been the most productive so far. That said, in recent games, head coach Kori Cheverie has tried to separate them in order to find a better balance in her line-up.
And if in the past, Poulin and Stacey would have been kept together, now the hot duo on the ice seems to be Poulin and Roque.
“I think that they both bring different dynamics when it's the two versus the other two, explained Cheverie after practice on Tuesday. “Stacey brings a lot of different pieces and a lot of speed to other lines as well. So, we're trying out different things. It doesn't mean that Poulin's always going to be with Roque, and it doesn't mean that Poulin's never going to be with Stacey again.”
What’s The Perfect Fit?
Many have been tried on the right wing of that tandem. Natalie Mlynkova, Skylar Irving, Lina Ljungblom, and Cheverie even brought back Stacey with them at certain moments.
“We're looking for different combinations. We want to be the strongest one through 13 as we possibly can,” explained Cheverie Saturday after the game. “So, you know, not saying that Poulin, Stacey and Roque are never going to be on the same line again, that is too harsh of a statement, because using them in really crucial moments is important, but we do need to continue to grow our younger players and we need to continue to find them opportunities for when the situation fits.”
So, what would be the perfect fit for Poulin and Roque?
I asked Cheverie.
“Someone who recovers a lot of pucks. Someone who thinks they can keep the puck themselves as well, and they don't always have to move it to Poulin and Roque. They can kind of keep it on their own, on their own stick as well. And then someone who's going to the net and who can play at the net, and then you have to have a little bit of poison patience as well for lanes to open up, and to see that vision, to see the play materializing. So, you know, I think that there are components of that game in Natalie, in Skylar, in Lina, in Stacey. There's a ton of players that I believe who can play there. It's just a matter of what's the right combination. And yeah, we're still working through it.”
Back With Irving
Against Minnesota last week, Irving started the game with Poulin and Roque.
The full line didn’t score any goals, but Poulin scored the overtime winner assisted by Roque. Last Saturday, against Ottawa, it was Mlynkova’s turn. Again, no goals from the first line. Only Roque scored the insurance goal, an empty netter, and by then, Stacey was back with Poulin and Roque.
At practice on Tuesday, it was Irving back on the first line.
“She's big, she has speed, she's got a good shot, “justified Cheverie. “She's got an IQ for the net. And I think she's fearless as well. She's willing to take pucks to the middle of the ice, which is a hard place and an uncomfy place to go to, but she doesn't settle for outside opportunities. She tries to get to the middle. She goes to the blue paint. In practice today, she went hard to the blue paint and then she's got the skills to finish in the blue paint and that's what they did in practice today. So that was great to see. And she's willing to hit, she's willing to take hits and she's willing to get in the face of other people. So, you know, she's a good fit on any line that wants to bring pucks to the net and looking for offence. So, she's a good fit there.”
Is The Answer Elsewhere?
Will it work?
We’ll see tonight as Montreal faces Toronto in their last game before the Olympic break.
But what we know for sure is this.
Before Roque got suspended one game, the Poulin-Roque-Stacey line combined for 11 goals and 29 points in 10 games. It was the hottest line in the league. In the three games since Roque is back in the line-up, and since the team started holding tryouts at right wing, Poulin has had one goal and one assist, Roque has one goal, and Stacey is pointless.
Montreal has won five of the last six games, two in overtime, but except for one empty-net goal, has a nine-game one-goal-difference streak.
She might be winning games – thanks a lot to Ann-Renée Desbiens – but Cheverie will need to find that right fit sooner or later.
Because after the Olympics, her GM will only have two weeks to find that fit elsewhere before the trade deadline.