LPHF: Montrealers' hearts were broken in the third overtime of game two

Taylor Wenchkowski scored at 11:44 of the third overtime period to give Boston a 2-1 victory over Montreal in a thrilling Game 2 of the Women's Pro League semifinal series, played before a packed house of 10,172. Saturday evening at Bell Square.

Boston's players, who would no doubt have been happy to split the first two games in enemy territory, took the third series from five wins to zero.

They will be able to complete the sweep on Tuesday night in front of their home fans at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

Kristin O'Neill, with her second series of the second period, beat Erin Frankel, who made 56 saves.

At the other end, Anne-Renée Debiens stopped 50 shots and surrendered to Amanda Bjelke in the first half before conceding the heartbreaking goal.

Pelkey ​​scored the goal after her pass attempt hit Catherine Dubois in front of Montreal's net before surprising Debians.

Wenczkowski hit the target on his return after a great save from Debians on his account.

Lack of cohesion

Spectators gave Montreal players an enthusiastic and lively welcome as they jumped onto the ice to start the game on Saturday. That was the only similarity to the first period of Thursday's game.

The first twenty were marked by a distinct lack of cohesion among Montrealers, and a lack of confidence in most of their actions.

It is as if Thursday's defeat had left any traces.

This seemed especially clear after they conceded the first goal of the match, in an unfortunate series.

The play began deep in the Montreal area when defender Catherine Daoust recovered the ball in the left corner and provided a back pass that Bilecke intercepted behind Debien's net.

Pelkey ​​immediately tried to push the puck towards the front of the goal, but the ball hit Catherine Dubois, who was retreating defensively, before it branched over Debian's left platform and landed in the back net.

From then on, the visitors established themselves to the point that they had eight shots from the nine that followed for the rest of the period. Except that Debian kept its network door tightly closed.

Montreal came alive and put the game back at square one at 1:58 of the second period, with the help of a roughing penalty on Megan Keeler.

They ended a series of 75 minutes and 16 seconds without scoring.

O'Neill grabbed the rebound of Maureen Murphy's shot from the left point and slotted the ball into the top of the net.

It was Montreal's second goal since the start of the series on the power play.

Above all, this goal gave wings to the Montreal club, which became more dangerous during the second half, which ended with a score of 1-1 and a simple penalty kick for Lexi Adzija from Boston.

Although they were unable to exploit this numerical superiority, Cory Chevere's players gradually took control of the course of the third half, and repeatedly threatened to break the tie during the first 15 minutes of the first half.

With 30 seconds remaining in the third period, Montreal was hoping to break the deadlock with a shot from Melodie Daoust from the mouth of the net.

The goal was disallowed for the first time on the ice, but the goal was also disallowed after video review because the referee's whistle was heard before the puck crossed the red line behind Frankel, according to the explanation provided by the league.

Then, during the first overtime, Montreal capitalized on two power plays, including one five minutes after Lexi Adzija was caught checking Laura Stacy's head at center ice.

Montreal moved the puck a lot, but they ultimately fired very few truly dangerous shots at Frankel.

In the second overtime period, Boston controlled the entire period. The visiting team almost ended the duel with 70 seconds on the clock when Hilary Knight found herself alone in front of Debians, but her shot went over the crossbar.

Then, with 34.9 seconds on the clock, Hanna Brandt thought she had given Boston the win during another rally in front of the opposing net. Here again, the video replay ruled that there was no goal because one of the two referees blew the whistle.