Boston leads Montréal 1-0 in semifinal series
LAVAL, QC (May 11, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Playoffs continue tonight with Game 2 of the best-of-five semifinal series between Montréal and Boston at 7:00 p.m. ET at Place Bell.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans across Canada can watch the game live on TSN4, TSN.ca, and the TSN app. Fans in the United States can watch the game live on NESN+, Sportsnet Pittsburgh Plus, MSGSNHD/Z1-Z2, Bally Sports North/Wisconsin, the Bally Sports app on mobile and tablet devices (including iOS and Android), ballysports.com when authenticated using pay-TV credentials, and on Bally Sports+, the standalone streaming subscription service available from Bally Sports. The game will also stream live on the Women’s Sports Network, and the league’s YouTube channel. Kenzie Lalonde will have the play-by-play call alongside analyst Cheryl Pounder and Raegan Subban reporting rinkside. French coverage is available on RDS2 with studio host Andrée-Anne Barbeau and analyst Karell Emard. Claudine Douville will have the play-by-play call with analyst Isabelle Leclaire and reporter Catherine Savoie.
GAME 1 AT A GLANCE
Boston opened the semifinal series with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory against Montréal on Thursday night. Susanna Tapani was the hero with the winning goal at 14:25 of the extra frame. Kristin O’Neill opened the scoring for Montréal on the powerplay at 1:07 of the second period, and Lexie Adzija scored Boston’s tying goal at 1:48 of the third period. Aerin Frankel earned first star honours with a 53-save performance. The victory extended Boston’s winning streak to three games between regular-season and playoffs and was their fifth win in six games since the International Break. Montréal has now lost two straight games counting a 4-3 loss in Boston on May 4 in their final game of the season.
BONUS HOCKEY
It should come as no surprise that these two teams went to overtime in Game 1 of the series. Of the league’s 20 regular-season games that went to overtime/shootout, Montréal led the league with eight overtime/shootout appearances which represents one third of their schedule, and Boston tied Minnesota, Ottawa, and New York with seven games past regulation. Boston and Montréal have now gone to overtime in three of their five head-to-head meetings, including Jan. 13 at Verdun Auditorium where Amanda Pelkey was the hero in Boston’s 3-2 win, and on Feb. 4 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell where Laura Stacey won the game for Montréal in the 2-1 final. Boston’s Hannah Brandt and captain Hilary Knight have also scored overtime winners for the team this season, while Montréal has additional winners from Ann-Sophie Bettez and Maureen Murphy. Susanna Tapani scored an overtime winner while playing with Minnesota in a Jan. 17 game against Ottawa. Counting Thursday’s playoff opener, Montréal has now played an additional 39:05 in nine games and Boston has played 34:26 in eight games past regulation.
FRANKEL DEFENDS THE FORT
Boston’s Aerin Frankel set a PWHL record with her 53-save performance in Game 1 as Montréal recorded a season-high 54 shots on goal. Her previous high for saves was 41 in a 2-0 shutout over Minnesota on Feb. 25. As a member of the Northeastern Huskies, Frankel posted a career-high 51 saves against then-No. 1 Wisconsin in the Battle at the Burgh Championship game on Jan. 5, 2020. She went on to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award the following season. The highest PWHL shot count during the regular-season was 46, recorded three times by Minnesota— on Jan. 24 in a 2-1 loss against Montréal, Minnesota on Mar. 5 in a 4-3 overtime win against Ottawa, and Boston on Mar. 10 in a 3-2 overtime win against New York. Montréal’s Elaine Chuli held the regular-season record for most saves in a game with 45 in the victory over Minnesota.
BOSTON’S DEALS DELIVER
This season, Boston bolstered its lineup with a series of trades that paid dividends with two goals in the biggest game of the season. Forward Susanna Tapani, acquired Feb. 11 from Minnesota alongside defender Abby Cook in the first trade in PWHL history, scored the overtime winner, and forward Lexie Adzija, acquired at the Mar. 18 deadline from Ottawa, scored the game-tying goal on Thursday. Tapani has now played a league-high 27 games, including 18 with Boston where she has scored three goals and six assists for the team between regular-season and playoffs. She also recorded two assists in a critical game against Montréal in the season finale and is riding a three-game point streak with one goal and three assists in that span. Adzija has now played eight total games for Boston and has two goals and two assists. Her first goal with the team was the game-winner as part of a two-point performance on Apr. 20 in a 2-1 win over New York.
STACEY STILL STREAKING
Montréal forward Laura Stacey recorded a primary assist on the team’s powerplay goal on Thursday night to extend her point streak to six games. The Kleinburg, ON, native, who celebrated her 30th birthday last Sunday, finished the regular-season tied for ninth in league scoring with 18 points, including 10 goals and eight assists in 23 games. Her streak includes three goals and five assists and is tied for the longest across the PWHL this season. A point tonight would put her in sole possession of the league’s longest streak, surpassing New York’s Alex Carpenter, Ottawa’s Emily Clark and Kateřina Mrázová, and Toronto’s Natalie Spooner and Blayre Turnbull who each capped their streaks at six.
TWO MAJOR MOMENTS FOR MICHAUD
Montréal goalie coach Olivier Michaud is in the midst of two major playoff moments between the PWHL and the QMJHL where he also serves on staff for the Drummondville Voltigeurs. The Voltigeurs have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series for the Gilles-Courteau Trophy against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. He returns to Place Bell tonight after watching his 20-year-old protégé Riley Mercer post back-to-back road shutouts including a 33-save performance in a 1-0 overtime win on Friday. He is one of two goalie coaches on PWHL Montréal alongside Bruno-Pierre Guillemette working with netminders Ann-Renée Desbiens, Elaine Chuli, and Marlène Boissonnault.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“It’s the playoffs and we knew it was going to be a hard fought battle. We are excited to have the opportunity to bounce back tonight in front of our fans.” – Laura Stacey, Montréal
“The atmosphere was electric in this building in game one and we know our fans will give us even more energy tonight as the stakes keep getting higher. We need to bring the same effort as Thursday and be ready for another 60 minutes or even more if need be.” – Kori Cheverie, Montréal
“Tonight, we are focused on keeping our momentum by sticking to our game plan and taking it one shift at a time. It’s still early in the series so we are ready to stay physical and put ourselves in positions to succeed this evening and get ourselves another win.” – Jessica Digirolamo, Boston
“We need to have a better start tonight and take the game to them.” – Courtney Kessel, Boston
QUICK HITS
Boston and Montréal are an even 11-11 in goals for and against in five total games this season… Montréal has outshot Boston four times in five games for a total of 183-140…Montréal’s 28-shot differential in Game 1 was their highest of the season…The only other game Montréal outshot an opponent by double digits was on Jan. 13, when they also lost in overtime to Boston 3-2 on home ice despite leading the shot count 33-21…Montréal is 3/17 and Boston is 0/9 on the powerplay in five head-to-head games this season…Game 1 was Boston’s 16th and Montréal’s 15th one-goal game of the season…Laura Stacey (3G, 5A) has a six-game point streak…Susanna Tapani (1G, 3A) and Megan Keller (1G, 2A) both have three-game point streaks…Sarah Lefort (MTL) will make her series debut on the team’s third line after serving a one-game suspension…Boston is dressing the same lineup as they did in Game 1…On Sunday, Leah Lum (MTL) will celebrate her 28th birthday and Abby Cook (BOS) her 26th birthday.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
MONTREAL:
O’Neill | Poulin | Stacey
Grant-Mentis | Murphy | M. Daoust
Lefort | David | Dalton
Dubois | Dempsey | Lum
Tabin | Ambrose
Keopple | Boulier
Bizal | C. Daoust
Laganière
Desbiens | Chuli
Scratches: Bettez, Boissonnault, Bujold, Lásková, Marchment, Poznikoff
BOSTON:
Müller | Tapani | Schafzahl
Babstock | Brandt | Knight
Kosta | Adzija | Shirley
Wenczkowski | Marvin | Pelkey
Keller | Brown
DiGirolamo | Fratkin
Healey | Morin
Cook
Frankel | Söderberg
Scratches: Kronish, Gabel, Girard, Rattray
OFFICIALS:
Referees: Grace Barlow (Vancouver, BC) – #22 and Alex Lepkowski (West Seneca, NY) – #14.
Linespersons: Antoine Bujold-Roux (Nepean ON) – #72 and Anthony Lapointe (Lachine, QC) – #78.
Standby Referee: Elizabeth Mantha (Longueuil, QC) – #15.
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