Ottawa Looks To Bounce Back Against First Place Montreal

Ottawa is coming off a loss, while Montreal is entering after jumping into first overall. The teams will face off at Place Bell. Here's a preview.

For the first time this season, Ottawa will play out of province against Montreal. Ottawa will look to rebound after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Boston on Wednesday night. They arrive in Montreal with a 2-0-2-1 record, sitting fourth in the league standings.

As for Montreal, they’ve had an up and down season, but still find themselves first in the league. With a record of 3-1-2-1, they have yet to win two games in a row, nor lose two in a row. Their last game was also on Wednesday night, where Montreal came out with a 2-1 win in Minnesota. Montreal has struggled mightily on the power play on home ice, not scoring in 11 attempts. Their penalty kill at home is strong however, at 86% through three games.

While Marie-Philip Poulin carries most of the headlines, Vanizova has quietly been a productive forward for Montreal. The Czechia native has scored a goal and six assists through seven games, with points in all but one of them. She scored a goal and an assist in Minnesota, including the game winner with six minutes left in the game. In Ottawa’s home opener, she also recorded an assist on Laura Stacey’s goal in the third period. While a noted playmaker so far this year, she has the ability to put the puck in the back of the net. In 31 SDHL games in 2021-22, 15 of her 24 points were goals. Last season Vanisova scored the Isobel Cup winning goal for the PHF's Toronto Six.

While the loss against Boston stung Ottawa, Carla MacLeod was impressed with her team's performance through the first five games.

“Really great, it’s been lots of fun, high intensity, a lot of energy, a lot of willingness to learn and get better,” she said. “I think every game we’ve seen improvements; I think we’re in a great spot to keep getting better.”

Harmon was on the ice for all three of Montreal’s goals in the opening game but has been one of Ottawa’s better players the past four games. She has three points in that span, with a +3 rating. Harmon and Amanda Boulier have stayed intact since opening day and the American pairing has fared quite well. Boulier has noticed the natural chemistry between the two.

“She’s a ton of fun to play with,” Boulier said. “She’s one of the best defenders in the world in my opinion, so it’s such an honour to play with her. She’s really easy to play with because she’s so good with the puck.”

Puck drop between Ottawa and Montreal is at 3:30 ET at Place Bell in Montreal. The game will be broadcasted on CBC and RDS2, while live streamed on CBC GEM and YouTube.