Victoire Vibe Vol 2.3

The Montréal Victoire picked up their second regulation loss of the season against the Minnesota Frost at the Takeover Tour game in Denver, Colorado, and also lost one of their best players in Laura Stacey to a lower body injury. Despite this, the Victoire went on to earn two regulation wins last week, taking them back to the top of the league standings. After a week off, things are looking up as they head into a back-to-back at home.

What’s not working?

Although the Victoire looked calm and collected during the game in Denver, they did not play their best game. Head coach Kori Cheverie spoke after the game about the need to make as few mistakes as possible against a team like the Frost, and to my eye it may have been an overabundance of caution that led to some of the goals against. Conservative play on the powerplay and the penalty kill could have been the players getting in their heads; or, it could have been a result of playing three Takeover Tour games in a week all over the western half of the continent; or, it could have been the physicality and disruption brought by the relatively fresh Minnesota, who were coming off a homestand; or, it could have been the altitude in Colorado, which Cayla Barnes and Mikyla Grant-Mentis confirmed the team was feeling after the game.

Whatever was dogging the Victoire’s steps in Colorado, it didn’t last. After the game, Coach Cheverie said, “There has been some adversity on this trip. You almost want that as a team, you want to be able to go through those moments so you can learn early on.”

What the team would probably have survived without was the injury to Laura Stacey, who exited the Denver game with an apparent leg injury. Per Pat Laprade, she is skating again, but losing her speed and poise is a blow for the team. Already down forward Kennedy Marchment, who has not played since last February, and now without Claire Dalton, Montréal will have to rely on their depth to keep the wins rolling.

What is working?

I am so pleased to be able to move the power play into this section. The Victoire potted one power play goal in Colorado, two against the Frost back in Montréal, and then both of their goals in Québec City came on the power play as well. Montréal has moved into third in the league with a 19% success rate with the player advantage.

This success is not flukey, or a regression to a mean: this is the hard work the Victoire has been putting in on their special teams paying off. New and improved tactics led to these goals: they’ve slowed down and cleaned up their entries, which were causing them to have difficulty setting up; there’s more intentionality in using shots from the outside to create net-front scrambles; they’ve found the right mix of using skating and passing to create movement and force opportunities. This power play has been moving in the right direction for a while, and it’s now safe to say that they have arrived. 

In Colorado, Minnesota was able to overpower the Victoire and press their advantages. Back home at Place Bell, the Victoire returned with an impressive defensive structure, refusing to make any similar mistakes, and instead played a complete game to earn a strong response victory. The defensive structure impressed me: they were composed and very consistent about forcing incoming players to the boards or only allowing them to take shots from tough angles far from the net. As remarked on the broadcast, the Frost were held without a shot for the first 11:30 minutes of the second period, and didn’t win a faceoff for an additional 45 seconds. That is extremely impressive and speaks to the defensive capability the Victoire is showing right now.

Something I’ve noticed all season, but which has become even more visible in the last two games, is the confidence the Victoire defenders have in joining the rush, and the competence the forward group has in rotating in to cover their positions. This mobility and flexibility increases the team’s offensive potential while limiting the dangers that may be seen when defenders leave their positions. It’s a specific strength for this team that is only possible because of the skill level of both the defender and the forward groups, and the communication of everyone involved. 

Compensating for the injury to Stacey, Abby Boreen was moved up to the top line with Marie-Philip Poulin and Jennifer Gardiner, with Maureen Murphy slotting into Boreen’ spot on the second line beside Kristin O’Neill and Lina Ljungblom. That top line combination immediately produced a goal against Minnesota and has looked great ever since– possibly great enough to keep together even when Laura Stacey returns. If it’s working, keep doing it, and I would be interested to see if Stacey could slot in on the second line and perhaps help spark some offense from there.

In the game against Ottawa at Québec City, the team continued to look defensively strong, offensively dangerous, and overall cohesive. The opening lineup of Poulin, Catherine Dubois, and Alexandra Labelle, who do not normally play on a line together, created a beautiful moment, and the home town emotions only got higher when Dubois scored the game’s opening goal. All season, players and Coach Cheverie have referred to Dubois as an excellent teammate who the girls all rally around, so it was very powerful to see her earn her second goal of the season in the first PWHL game in her home city.

Kati Tabin scored the game-winner on the power play with just over six minutes remaining in the third, and the final ending never looked like it was in doubt: those six minutes passed with great defending from the Victoire via constantly pressing forward offensively, never letting the Charge mount a serious charge in return. (I’m sorry.)

Vibe check

“You can’t win a Walter Cup now, but you can probably lose one, in terms of getting far behind. And so for us it’s always pushing ahead, it’s always thinking ‘Great, but we’re not satisfied.’” - Kori Cheverie

What’s next?

The Victoire will host Ottawa for a rematch at Place Bell on Wednesday, followed immediately by the Toronto Sceptres on Thursday. On Sunday afternoon, they will dip down to just outside New York to face the Sirens in the final game before another international break.