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Boston defeated Montreal and qualified for the playoffs

Posted on by Neons

Boston clinched a playoff berth with a huge win over Montreal yesterday in front of 5,964 spectators, 4-3.

Heading into the game, Boston needs a regulation win along with a Minnesota loss to make the playoffs. Otherwise, they would have to wait for tonight's Ottawa-Toronto game and hope that Ottawa will score less points than them. Thus, the urgency of winning in regulation was high.

Boston didn't start the game terribly, but it wasn't their best either. Montreal had more chances early, and Boston didn't help when they took too many man-on-ice penalties six minutes into the game. They killed it, but Montreal still had momentum.

At 14:30, things turned dire for Boston when Jamie Lee Rattray was hit by Sarah Lefort's shot. He stayed down for a minute before standing up on his own and then stayed in the chair for the rest of the time. but he was not seen again. Boston coach Courtney Kessel had no news after the game.

Instead of collapsing after losing Rattray, Boston came alive. Just 19 seconds later, Kelly Babstock, who switched to the Hannah Brandt-Hilary Knight line in Rattray's absence, put the puck up the ice. He fed in front of Knight, who slotted past Desbiens to give his team a 1-0 lead. The key assist marked Babstock's first PWHL point, while Brandt had the second.

A few minutes later, Susanna Tapani won the fight and started the game. She passed it to Theresa Schafzal, who found the streaking Alina Muller, who tapped it past Desbiens to extend Boston's lead.

Soon after, Boston beat Montreal 12-11 and headed to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

Shortly after the second, a flurry ensued that ended with Emily Brown and Melody Dawes matching in the minors. Other than that, it was a relatively quiet start to the period.

However, Boston soon decided to change that. Megan Keller snuck a Knight tape inside the post past Desbiens to extend the lead to three at 6:23. Brandt made another pass for the goal.

The rough stuff continued a minute later when Marie-Philippe Poulin beat Taylor Wenczkowski and headed for a cross-check. Boston landed two touchdowns on the power play, but failed to bury the second.

The rest of the period was relatively uneventful, with Boston dominating most of the game. They got another 'A' after just over 17 minutes, but Gigi Marvin was unable to get a rebound and Desbiens made a big save. Boston went back to the locker room on a 3-0 run and held a 26-19 shooting advantage.

The third period was disastrous for Boston. They headed to the Puck at 3:23 as Babstock was called for fouling. Miklia Grant-Mentis scored her first PWHL goal 20 seconds later to put Montreal on the board.

“It's been (a rollercoaster season),” Grant-Mentis said. “It felt really good. I mean, Montreal takes me whenever they take me, I don't even know, but I was very happy and to score the last goal of the season was great and I hope it continues. play off”.

A few minutes later, Kali Fratkin got two for roughing Laura Stacy in the corner. Montreal took advantage of this opportunity, initially with a goal from Mariah Keopple, but later replaced by Grant-Mentis.

Montreal then continued to push hard, but Boston weathered the storm by managing some shots of their own. However, with 3:32 left after aggressive Montreal goaltending, who else but Poulin tied the game and the previously shaky Tsongas center calmed down.

However, this fun did not end there. With just 1:20 left, Fratkin's shot bounced off Montreal's stick and was enough to trick Desbiens and restore Boston's lead.

Montreal pulled Desbiens again, but this time Boston secured a playoff spot with a thrilling 4-3 victory. The final shots were 35-31 Boston.

After the game, Kessel shared his still-formative thoughts on the game with the media.

“It was absolutely crazy. To be honest, I still don't know my thoughts because there are so many of them. I think going into the third, we were hoping to close it out. Then you take two penalties and you know Montreal's power play is hot right now and they're back in the game. It got the fans excited. That's what they came for and at the end of the day we won, we won and we were happy.”

An equally shaken Keller and Knight shared their joy and said they were proud to be with the group.

“I felt like our team came out right away and we were ready to play,” Keller said. “Of course it was a rollercoaster. We're up three, we're down three, but the way our group sticks together is what kind of team we are. When we came back from the break, there was a lot of excitement. I'm proud of this group and excited for the playoffs.”

“Through the ebbs and flows of the season, we couldn't be more proud of the team for how they continued to perform, step up and develop,” Knight said. “It's a different team since the break and it's great to be a part of. All the hard work we've put into the bank and we're going to keep going with it.”

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