Kristin O'Neill scored twice in her return to Montreal from Worlds, and although she brought home a gold medal, the confidence she brought back is crucial to Montreal's PWHL season.
Kristin O'Neill scored twice in her return to Montreal from Worlds, and although she brought home a gold medal, the confidence she brought back is crucial to Montreal's PWHL season.
PWHL Montréal forward Kristin O’Neill brought a gold medal home from the IIHF World Championships in Utica, New York. She also brought home an abundance of confidence after contributing offensively in Utica following a slow offensive season in the PWHL.
The result was a two goal performance in her first game back in the PWHL, leading her team to a 4-3 comeback win over Minnesota.
“Being able to contribute on offence at the World Championship really helped my confidence and I made it a goal of mine to bring that confidence back to this team in Montréal," said O'Neill postgame. "A switch just flipped in all of us and we were really determined to win that game. It was great to get on the scoreboard but we really won as a team.”
The foursome of Marie-Philip Poulin, Erin Ambrose, Laura Stacey, and O'Neill recorded every goal and point for Montreal with Ambrose recording four assists, Stacey and Poulin a goal and two assists, and O'Neill with two goals.
“KO is someone that since Day 1 I told her how happy I was that she was on our team," said Montreal and Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "She's determined, she knows how to do the little details right. At the beginning of the season, people were saying 'why isn't she scoring' but it was a matter of time. She does everything right game after game, day after day, and to have her on the powerplay, the way she put that puck in right away, just to put pressure... It would have been easy for her to pull out and make a pass, but she attacked and got that goal and got us going right away. The way she holds herself accountable every day, she makes us better every day. She's one of the leaders on this team.”
With the win, PWHL Montreal moved within striking distance of first overall and more firmly secured their playoff spot. They host Toronto Saturday at 1pm for a record setting game at the Bell Centre in Montreal.