Laura Stacey and Melodie Daoust’s Efforts Not Enough as Ottawa Deals Them Their Second Straight Loss
On Sunday afternoon at Place Bell, penalties piled up to span an entire period, bringing special teams to the forefront. PWHL Ottawa emerged victorious in the battle, handing a 4-2 loss to Montreal.
Veteran forwards Laura Stacey and Mélodie Daoust stepped up in place of Marie-Philip Poulin, who was unable to play after sustaining an injury in Friday’s 3-0 loss against Toronto.
“All of us knew that she wasn’t in the lineup tonight, and the entire team tried to stand up and play as a team,” Stacey said. “We had a good game plan, we knew what we needed to do, obviously we fell short.”
Putting an end to Montreal’s five-period goal drought, Stacey capitalized on the power play with a one-timed blast from the point midway through the third period. The team’s power play went one-for-five in the contest.
“We do see our numbers a lot,” Stacey said about the struggling power play. “We have some good looks, we have some great opportunities, we just got to find a way to bury it. When they do start to go in and it starts to click, who knows how good it could be.”
Following Ottawa’s 3-1 response, Daoust narrowed the margin by scoring a rebound amidst a scramble in front of Emerance Maschmeyer at 17:02 in the third period.
In her third game with Montreal, Daoust finished with six shots on goal and a plus-one rating in 17:10 of ice time. Her line with Gabrielle David and Maureen Murphy sparked some energy, consistently driving to the net and finishing their checks.
“There were sparks kind of all throughout our lineup, it’s just about getting everyone sparked at the same time,” said coach Kori Cheverie.
Despite Stacey and Daoust’s efforts, Montreal came up short in the 4-2 outcome. Goals from Ottawa’s top point leaders, including a pair on the power play, and three assists from Katerina Mrazova sealed the victory.
“I think that our penalty kill hasn’t been good,” Cheverie said, noting the five goals allowed in three games this week. “It’s hard to turn things over and give them all the necessary changes that need to be made. You got to really prioritize certain things, and that’ll definitely be a priority.”
Cheverie now has a week to prepare her team before trekking to familiar territory in Pittsburgh, Penn., where she served as a guest coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Montreal will face Toronto at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday, March 17 with the game scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Both teams are tied with 30 points, each vying for the top position in the standings.
“It’s a really big game,” Stacey said. “So it’s about putting our head down, going back to work, and focusing on those little things that may not have worked today or two days ago. That’s what it’s going to come down to.”