A deflected centering pass from Abby Roque beat Gwyn Philips and that's all that Montreal needed to secure the Walter Cup on Wednesday night in Ottawa.
To put a bow on it, Roque added a late beauty of a jailbreak goal, first-ever three-time Walter Cup champion Maggie Flaherty scored from distance and Lina Ljungblom stole a puck deep in the zone and wrapped it past a sprawling Philips to secure the 4-0 win and championship for the Victoire.
CJ Fogler
They are the first Canadian team to win the title, as well as the first higher-seed to win any PWHL playoff series.
Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin was named Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP. Despite an injury that was clearly still nagging her throughout the playoffs, Poulin tied with Roque to lead all players with eight points, which tied them for most playoff points in league history.
The win was the culmination of a resilient season for the Victoire, who were without Poulin for a month bewteen the end of the Olympics and the final game of the regular season on April 25, when she returned to the ice. In her absence, the team won eight of ten games, secured the top seed heading into the playoffs and built the momentum that carried them through to the title.
"I tried to live thorugh every moment. There were highs, there were lows, we were able to kind of get through all of those adversity moments as a team. Whatever team we had on the ice was the team we were able to win with," said head coach Kori Cheverie, the first female head coach to win the Walter Cup.
Flaherty's goal was indicative of the depth Montreal showed throughout the end of the regular season and playoffs, with defenders and the bottom half of the linesheet stepping into bigger roles.
But in the end, the championship came to Montreal because they were led by Poulin. At 35 and nursing her injury, Poulin put in a huge postseason performance. Her team showed they could win without her in the regular season, but she showed why she's still Captain Clutch and one of the best to ever do it. Poulin had a point in three of four Finals games, including the primary assist on Roque's championship-winner.
Wednesday's win was an emphatic one in a series that had seen two overtime games and where each match was decided by a single goal. In fact, just two of the Victoire's nine postseason games was decided by more than one goal (a 3-1 loss to Minnesota on May 8 and this game).
Desbiens, Poulin, Laura Stacey, Erin Ambrose and Hayley Scamurra all became members of the Triple Gold Club, meaning they have won a Walter Cup championship, Olympic gold medal, and World Championship gold in their careers.
Desbiens led all goalies in the postseason, allowing 14 goals in nine games, pitching two shutouts. She completed the postseason with a .942 save percentage and 1.41 goals against average.
After a disapppointing exit from last year's playoffs, Montreal was aggressive and thoughtful in building a team to win this title. Flaherty and Roque were big off-season signings that had impact down the stretch. First draft pick, defender Nicole Gosling, was third on the team in points. Even Nadia Mattivi, added to the team after a strong showing for Italy at the Olympic and who signed to a 10-day contract before the final series, had a hand in winning the Cup.
"So much love for this group. The amount of heart on this team. I love everybody on this team," said Abby Roque on the ice after the game.
"It's really easy to meld into this group. They are just the best people around. Every day they give their heart and soul on the ice and in the training room. I couldn't be happier than to have come to Montreal."
Ottawa entered the postseason as the fourth and final team in, but lost the championship series for the second-straight season. They staved off Montreal in game three, but could not find their way past Desbiens. Sarah Wozniewicz hit the post early and that late power play looked like an opportunity, but Roque spoiled the moment with her short-hander and from there, Montreal could not be stopped.
(Photo: PWHL)
