Montreal Victoire’s depth brings team 1 win away from 1st Walter Cup

Montreal Victoire defender Maggie Flaherty was shouting for the puck for what felt like minutes.

Plunked alone in front of Ottawa Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips during overtime, Flaherty had plenty of real estate with the rest of the Charge players in the corner, surrounding Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin.

There were too many bodies for Poulin to muscle through with the puck. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw an opening, utilizing the vision that has helped her score in some of the biggest games this sport has seen.

She sent the puck to Flaherty’s tape, and it was off her stick as soon as it touched it. Flaherty’s one-timer beat Philips to give Montreal the 2-1 overtime win.

It put Montreal up 2-0 against the Ottawa Charge in the best-of-five Walter Cup final, just one win away from the franchise’s first PWHL championship.

Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie was beaming on the bench after the overtime goal. On her mind was pride for how the team won, which looked a lot like how Montreal has been winning all season long.

This is a team that’s built around its stars. But it’s the depth this team has added that has gotten it to this point, the ingredient the Victoire had been missing on previous postseason runs that ended in the first round.

WATCH | Flaherty’s OT winner puts Victoire one win away from Walter Cup:

Flaherty’s overtime winner puts Victoire 1 win away from a PWHL Walter Cup title

Montreal’s Maggie Flaherty’s game three overtime goal sinks Charge giving Victoire a 2-1 victory over Ottawa in the PWHL’s Walter Cup final.

“There’s a lot of character,” Poulin said about her team this season. “There’s a lot of people that are here for the right reason. They want to win. They want to do it for each other. They want to make a difference day in and day out.”

That includes Flaherty, who signed with the Victoire as a free agent last summer.

She’s a two-time Walter Cup champion with the Minnesota Frost who Cheverie felt had more to offer.

“Every time we played against [Minnesota], I always noticed Maggie,” Cheverie said. “I thought she had one of the best shots on their team from the point. Physical, mean, but also always had a smile on her face which is really important, I think, for our group.”

She fit into a defensive group that’s shown it can defend and block shots, but also score. Defender Kati Tabin scored Montreal’s first goal of the game, while Nicole Gosling scored the game-tying buzzer beater in Game 1.

Victoire goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens made 15 saves in the win, including a big stop seconds before the overtime winner. Without that save, the puck doesn’t make it to the other end of the net.

“It’s games like that, it’s moments like that, it’s saves like that, that I’m so happy that [Desbiens] is in our net,” Cheverie said. “She’s just been incredible for us. That gave us momentum.”

A physical game

Philips made 22 saves in a game where shots, and goals, were hard to come by.

It was a physical game with bodies flying everywhere — both teams registered 13 hits each — and few penalties. The loud crowd of more than 9,200 at Place Bell in Laval, Que. booed the officials often, including when a Montreal player was pushed into Desbiens, knocking away her stick. The play went on.

Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod pointed to what might have been a missed call in overtime just ahead of Flaherty’s goal.

Game 2 of the Walter Cup final between the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge had plenty of physicality. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

“We probably put too many players towards the puck,” MacLeod said. “But again, our net-front D is going to be net-front, but if she gets her feet wiped out on her from behind right before that play, it’s pretty hard to get back to where you need to be.”

The margin of victory in the Walter Cup final is thin. In a league where parity is a priority, both games so far have required extra time to be settled.

Most of the goals in these playoffs have come from in front of the net, with chaos and bodies in front of the goaltender.

That was the story on Ottawa rookie Sarah Wozniewicz’s goal that opened the scoring on Saturday, too.

“That’s a playoff-type goal,” Charge captain Brianne Jenner said. “We’re going to need to get some of those greasy goals like that, and I thought everybody on the ice did a great job keeping that puck alive and finding the back of the net.”

The series moves back to Ottawa for Game 3 at the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday at 6 p.m. ET. The Charge will be back in front of their loud, kazoo-wielding fans, including many who made the trek to Place Bell on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams will be desperate. Montreal is closer than it’s ever been to a title. Ottawa wants to avoid the grief that comes with losing in a final for the second year in a row.

MacLeod liked her team’s game, and was confident the resilient Charge will climb back.

“There is a lot in our game that’s going really well,” she said.

Just as big of a challenge lies ahead for the team up 2-0.

“We know that the third win is going to be the hardest to get,” Cheverie said. “We know that if we outwork them and if we bring our talent to the table and if we utilize our depth, we’re in a good position to set ourselves up for success. It’s a good team on the other side and we’re going to have to work for it.”