Poulin-Stacey Reunion Sparks Offense as Desbiens Shines in 3-1 Victory

It was thanks to a combination of goaltending brilliance and top line excellence that led to the Montreal Victoire’s win over the Toronto Sceptres on Feb. 25. 

Montreal returned to the win column after a two-game skid with a 3-1 triumph at Place Bell.

Tuesday night’s game marked the first instance of Laura Stacey paired alongside Marie-Philip Poulin in the starting lineup since Stacey endured a lower-body injury back in January. The tandem played with Jennifer Gardiner and all three forwards tallied a goal in the game. 

“We were rewarded tonight with thse three each getting a goal,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “It was the right decision [playing that line together].”

Victoire netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens had another impressive showing, improving to ten wins and an impressive 1.72 GAA/.936 SP. Desbiens stopped 24 of the 25 shots she faced, making 24 straight saves after surrendering the opening goal to Sceptres forward Jesse Compher.

“I don’t think we need to say much [to each other],” said Poulin when asked about whether she and Desbiens feed off of one another.

“You always want to give your team a chance to win,” siad Desbiens. “[Poulin] always tries to do that, and I try to do that. I think we can build momentum and also just make sure the other players are trying to play as hard as she does.”

Toronto was on a hot streak heading into their contest against Montreal. The team from the six had won six-straight meetings leading up to Tuesday, and were finishing off the tailend of an eleven-day road trip. Toronto sits in second place in the overall PWHL standings with 32 points, a complete 180 from the last place positioning the team found themselves in earlier in the campaign.

“Where we were seven or eight games ago to where we are today, and to do that all on a 12-day road trip with some East to West travel,” said Toronto head coach Troy Ryan. “I think these players deserve a lot of credit for just the effort they put forward.”

Montreal has a firm hold of the first place spot in the standings, improving to 10-3-4-1 following the win against Toronto. The game comes off of back-to-back losses for the team, and Tuesday’s win marked a fair deal of relief for the team.

“We needed that one,” said Cheverie. “For so many reasons. Two games [with a loss] in this league is probably equivalent to like six or eight in the NHL, and it feels that way too.” 

Montreal will turn their attention to Saturday’s matchup against the Boston Fleet at the Bell Centre. The puck is set to drop at 2 p.m. EST.