MONTREAL — Montreal Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie watched goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens in the shootout and was happy she’s now behind the bench and not facing her.
“I’ve never seen Ann that way in a shootout,” Cheverie said. Desbiens was challenging shooters aggressively and made all five saves in the tiebreaker, leading Montreal to a 2-1 Professional Women's Hockey League victory over the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday.
“I would be so intimidated going against her," Cheverie added. "She’s big, she sees everything right now and she’s stopping a lot for us.”
Canada’s No. 1 goaltender is putting up MVP-calibre numbers. She is 12-2-1 in 15 starts this season, leading the league in wins, goals against average (1.70) and save percentage (. 938). She has not allowed more than two goals over her last 13 games, a streak that started after the second game of the season on Dec. 4.
She had seven wins in 16 games last season, a number she has almost doubled with 10 games remaining.
“She is getting better with time,” Cheverie said. “She has found a way to figure out the professional life better than a lot of people.”
“The consistency of the league, to play more games, you get into a rhythm,” Desbiens said. “The volume improves the consistency of our performances.”
On top of her shootout performance, Desbiens made 40 saves, the most she has made in a game this season. The only shot to beat her was a power-play marker from Taylor Heise at 16:18 of the second period.
“She played outstanding,” said Minnesota head coach Ken Klee.
Marie-Philip Poulin scored the only goal of the shootout in the first round.
“When you’re having a good game entering the shootout you feel more confident,” Desbiens said. “When you score first, you know as a goaltender you just have to make the rest of the saves, and you put more pressure on the other team each shot.”
Montreal extended its lead atop the PWHL standings with the win, but the players know they won’t be successful solely riding their goaltender’s play. Despite that, they understand the luxury they have.
“When you don’t have your best game, you need other people to step up and Ann’s been doing that,” said Cheverie.
“Obviously we didn’t have our best game,” said Montreal forward Laura Stacey, who scored the team’s only goal in regulation. “To have her back there, we’re fully confident that we have a chance to win every night and that’s huge. It allows us to play a different game. It allows us to play confidently.
"It’s totally different when you have a goaltender behind you that you know you can trust and stand up behind you and win games and that’s what she did tonight.”
SEARCHING FOR DEPTH SCORING
Despite leading the league standings, there are concerns for Montreal and Cheverie. The last game that featured a goal scored without the top line of Jennifer Gardiner, Poulin or Stacey on the ice was back in their 6-2 win against New York on Feb. 15, a streak that is now at five games.
“We can’t keep going at the pace that we’re going in terms of only one line scoring,” Cheverie said. “It won’t put us in a good space for the playoffs and the players know that. They know we have to find a way to get depth scoring.”
LONG ROAD BACK FOR LÁSKOVÁ
Montreal defender Dominika Lásková made her season debut on Tuesday, her first game since Jan. 27, 2024, a span of 402 days. Her last season ended with a lower-body injury and has spent the time working her way back.
She played 6:33 and was used as the team’s seventh defender.
“We thought she moved the puck well,” Cheverie said. “Coming back after such a long absence, you want to make sure that you’re not throwing her into the fire. You want to make sure that you’re setting her up for some success, too. I thought she handled herself really well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2025.
Jared Book, The Canadian Press
