Montreal blew a two-goal lead in the third period to once again lose in overtime to Boston, which advanced to the LPHF final.
This time, Boston had the best by a score of 3 to 2 and we only had to wait until the 62nd second of extra time to see Susanna Tapani make the difference.
Montreal seemed in a good position to force a fourth game, but Boston had other plans. The American team made up the deficit by two goals and Tapani scored his second goal of the series in overtime, this time, to send the Montrealers on vacation.
She made the difference in extra time during the first match of the series played at Place Bell. In the second matchup, Taylor Wenczkowski ended a marathon duel in the third overtime period to give his team a chance to finish Tuesday night. Boston can say mission accomplished while for Montreal, the team will not have been able to find a way to record a playoff victory after finishing the season in second place in the standings.
“In the third (period), I don’t think there was much difference (with the other two). Obviously you had a team, on the other side, that was pushing. I don’t know if they matched our pressure in the first two (periods), but in the third they decided they wanted to win in 60 minutes,” analyzed head coach Kori Cheverie.
As was the case during the matches played at Place Bell, Montreal was the main team applying pressure at the start of the game. They recorded a total of 18 shots on Aerin Frankel’s cage, but this time, they found a loophole.
Known for her contribution in big moments, Marie-Philip Poulin put her team in control at the end of the first period. The captain returned to the charge in the middle period when she assisted her teammate Maureen Murphy on the goal to see Montreal lead 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.
Ann-Renée Desbiens was perfect until third and she could say thank you to her teammates. They limited their rivals to 11 shots in two periods and Jillian Dempsey saved the day on a mind-blowing chance from Jamie Lee Rattray. The latter was forgotten to the left of Desbiens and had a gaping cage in front of her, except that she missed her shot and the puck seemed to hit Dempsey’s stick in flight.
It was only a postponement for Boston, as a few moments later, Sophie Shirley found the back of the net to reduce Montreal’s lead to just one goal.
Boston defended with Alina Müller in the penalty box, but Amanda Pelkey was able to beat Desbiens with a wrist shot on a short breakaway to tie the score with less than five minutes remaining in the third period.
Tapanni came to close the books in this series. Completely alone to the left of Desbiens, Tapani had no difficulty pushing the puck into the back of the net to secure the victory.
Desbiens ends his evening with three goals allowed on 24 shots. Frankel was once again impressive in front of the net, stopping 32 pucks.
Boston is now waiting to know its opponent in the final. Toronto leads its series 2 to 1 over Minnesota.