LAVAL, Que. — Marie-Philip Poulin scored at 4:02 of the third overtime period and Ann-Renee Desbiens made 38 saves to record the shutout as the Montreal Victoire defeated the Minnesota Frost 1-0 in Game 2 of the Professional Women’s Hockey League semifinal series on Tuesday.
Montreal’s win evens the best-of-five showdown at 1-1 as the series shifts to Minnesota for the next two games. The Frost won Game 1 on Saturday, 5-4 in overtime.
It was the seventh straight playoff game requiring overtime for the Frost dating back to last season.
On Tuesday, Abby Roque entered the zone, and made a cross-ice pass as Poulin fired a one-timer from the right circle that beat Maddie Rooney. It was her first career PWHL playoff goal.
Both goaltenders were great in the game. Rooney made 51 saves in the loss. It was the third playoff game in league history to go without a regulation goal.
Montreal had a superb start to overtime, outshooting Minnesota 23-11 through the first two extra periods. They also earned a power play 7:35 into the first overtime but could not capitalize.
Minnesota had a power-play opportunity in the final period to try and break the deadlock but was unable to capitalize. In fact, the best scoring chance of the advantage came from Montreal’s Laura Stacey who shot just wide on a breakaway. The shots in the period were 5-5, but neither team came much closer to ending it in regulation.
The opening frame saw three power plays between the teams, but neither was able to score. Montreal had more of the run of play after the Minnesota power play, earning two advantages of its own and outshooting the Frost 10-0 over the final 10:33 of the period.
The best scoring chances of the period came from Shiann Darkangelo and Dara Greig for Montreal and Katy Knoll and Kendall Coyne Schofield for Minnesota, but Rooney and Desbiens were unbeatable.
In the second period, Desbiens made a save on a Sidney Morin shot, followed by two consecutive saves on Kelly Pannek.
Rooney’s best effort came in the final minute of the period. After a Poulin point shot, the puck was loose just outside the blue paint, finding its way eventually to a pinching Kati Tabin whose backhand attempt slid into Rooney’s stomach as she was sprawled on the ice.
Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme served her one-game suspension on Tuesday.
Game 3 in the series is Thursday at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
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