Marie-Philip Poulin was clutch again scoring the overtime winner for her Montreal Victoire. It was a highlight reel, spinning backhander against the back-to-back reigning champs.
Marie-Philip Poulin hit the highlight reels in Montreal's overtime win over the Minnesota Frost on the road Wednesday night. The Victoire captain scored a spinning backhand shot at 3:03 of the extra frame to give Montreal a 2-1 win in extra time.
At the other end of the ice, Ann-Renee Desbiens shut the door in net for the Victoire stopping 23 of 24 shots she faced in the win. While Desbiens continued her strong play, she pointed at Montreal's captain as the difference maker.
“I've been fortunate enough to have been playing with her for a very long time, and I actually don't remember the last time I played against her, and I would like to keep it that way," said Desbiens of Poulin. "To be honest, she's just a very impressive player, and she gets those winning goals because of all the hard work she puts in day in and day out when nobody's watching. She shows up at the rink the way she carries herself, and that's how she can make a big impact in the very important moments.”
After a scoreless opening period, Maureen Murphy redirected a Nicole Gosling shot to open the scoring. The game would remain 1-0 for Montreal until the final minutes of the game when Kelly Pannek scored the tying marker with only 1:02 remaining in the game to send it to extra time.
But it was Poulin who would secure the victory with her spinning backhander.
Despite allowing the tying goal, Montreal had success throughout the game in shutting down what has been one of the league's most potent offensive groups including Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, Pannek, and Taylor Heise who all sit among league scoring leaders.
“They have goal scorers – they’re leading the league in goals – so it was something important for us recognizing possession moments and where our defensive positioning was going to be when those moments happened," said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. "And how we were going to put them on their heels as well. We had a game plan for that, and I thought that we made some adjustments throughout the game and the players responded really well.”
Montréal is back in action at home when they host the Ottawa Charge on Saturday for the first of their last two games heading into the Olympic break. Minnesota will be visited by the New York Sirens on Sunday for a rematch of last Friday’s game when the Frost secured a 3-2 overtime win at Prudential Center.