LAVAL, Que. — The Montreal Victoire staged an incredible comeback on Thursday night to earn a 3-2 overtime win over the Ottawa Charge, paced by a pair of goals from Abby Roque.
And the winner went in off Roque’s cage.
Victoire forward Laura Stacey had to be helped off the ice late in the third after writhing in pain, but returned to tip the game-winner — into Roque’s face — to give Montreal a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Walter Cup Finals.
With 2.1 seconds to go and the Victoire trailing 2-1, rookie defender Nicole Gosling hammered home a rebound through a crowded net-front to tie things up to force overtime.
Just second earlier, Stacey was bodychecked and fell awkwardly against the boards and she lay on the ice in clear pain. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin waved trainers over and later helped her wife off the ice. It was heartbreaking to watch, and the arena fell quiet.
Seconds later, fans erupted as Gosling tied things up on a play that started with Poulin throwing the puck toward the net-front, and that puck finding its way into the back of the net.
Then in overtime, fans erupted again as Stacey skated onto the ice and remained out there, and then helped author the game-winner.
This opening game of the first all-Canadian Walter Cup Finals truly had it all.
It was Ottawa’s very own Rebecca Leslie who scored the Charge's first two goals on two beautiful individual efforts. She opened scoring late in the first with a toe-drag to find open space in the slot, then jumped on her own rebound.
Roque tied things up for Montreal with 7:48 to go, cashing in on a beautiful cross-ice pass from Nadia Mattivi and beating Gwyneth Philips with a quick glove-side wrister.
Leslie’s second goal was textbook patience as she delayed in the zone and peeled her way around a skirmish in front, then beat Ann-Renée Desbiens five-hole, giving her Charge the 2-1 lead.
Montreal pulled Desbiens and cashed in with the extra attacker, before Roque’s game-winner in extra time.
And so began the battle between a pair of rivals located a little more than 200km from one another, between a pair of captains in Montreal’s Poulin and Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner, the long-time Team Canada teammates and frequent national team linemates.
Montreal cracked the Finals thanks to knocking off the two-time defending champions from Minnesota in a full five games shortly after ending the regular season atop the standings, while the Charge squeaked into the post-season with a win in their final game before knocking off the higher-seeded Boston Fleet.
Next up is Game 2 on Saturday back at Place Bell at 2 p.m. ET before the series flips to Ottawa.
