Montreal Force 3, Toronto Six 0
Tricia Deguire stopped all 39 shots she faced in Saturday's 3-0 win for the Montreal Force over the Toronto Six, a key performance for the PHF rookie in her first professional shutout. The win also marked the first shutout for the Force, and the first time their opponent – the Toronto Six – had been blanked on home ice.
Deguire had five shutouts in her final season at McGill, so it's no surprise to see her hit that mark at the professional level. She's appeared in 10 games this season for the Force, having faced 30+ shots in seven games.
Early in Saturday's game, neither team really came out on top early on.
Dominika Lásková skated off in clear discomfort just over five minutes into the game after taking a stick high to the neck area, just moments after a Toronto trainer got hit by a puck on the bench. Lásková missed a bit of time, but did return to the ice in the second period.
Teams were still searching for the first goal of the game as they headed into the second period, but the Six started to overpower the Force as the game went on. They dominated possession and had several strong chances, outshooting the Force 22-9 in the middle frame.
In spite of that, the Force opened the scoring with five minutes left in the period. After winning the faceoff, Montreal cycled the puck through the zone. Gabrielle De Serres blasted a shot from the point that found its way to the net, the puck hitting Elaine Chuli and popping up into the air. A bit of chaos ensued in front of the net, and a falling Samantha Isbell got just enough of her stick on it to swing the puck in.
Montreal defended their one-goal lead for the rest of the game, powering through a late surge from the Six to try and tie things up. Toronto had multiple close chances in the final ten minutes of play, but simply couldn't solve Deguire. The Six even had a penalty shot with 3:24 to play, as Sarah Lefort took down Lexi Templeman on a breakaway, but Michela Cava failed to score on the opportunity.
Then, with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Six were called for having too many skaters on the ice. Although Chuli was her team's best penalty-killer in keeping it a one-goal game, there was only so much she could do. The Force executed a series of crisp passes, and a give-and-go between Sarah Lefort and Alexandra Labelle right in front gave Lefort the tap-in opportunity.
Following Lefort's goal, Ann-Sophie Bettez also potted an empty-netter in the final minute of play to seal the 3-0 win.
With Saturday's win, the Force snapped a three-game losing streak. They have yet to win consecutive games, and continued that stretch with a loss on Sunday.
Other Weekend Action
- The Force and Six faced a rematch on Sunday afternoon, and this time, the Six came out on top with a 2-1 victory. Shiann Darkangelo opened the scoring for Toronto more than halfway through the first period, but less than a minute later, Alexandra Labelle tied it. Breanne Wilson-Bennett potted the game-winner early in the second period, and Elaine Chuli stopped 23 shots.
News & Notes
- The Buffalo Beauts have signed Amy Budde for the remainder of the season. Budde previously played 10 games with Buffalo last season and has been a "practice player" this season.
- Fanni Gasparics and Réka Dabasi both represented Hungary in the Five Nations tournament in Budapest, part of the Women's Euro Hockey Tour.
League Standings
- Boston (14-2-1), 40 points
- Toronto (12-2-2), 36 points
- Minnesota (10-4-2), 32 points
- Connecticut (8-7-2), 26 points
- Metropolitan (6-12-0), 16 points
- Montreal (6-9-1), 16 points
- Buffalo (2-12-2), 8 points