Victoire Victorious in Record-Breaking 4OT Thriller

The second game of the semifinal series between the Montréal Victoire and the Ottawa Charge was one for the record books. The Victoire earned the franchise's first-ever postseason victory in the fourth overtime period, making it the longest game ever played in the PWHL. With this win, the series is tied 1-1 as the teams head to Ottawa.

Montréal's Ann-Renée Desbiens made 63 saves, breaking Aerin Frankel's record of 56, which she made against the Victoire exactly one year earlier, on May 11, 2024. The Victoire have now been part of both of the longest games in league history.

Sunday's game two took seven periods and 135 minutes and 33 seconds to decide. For additional context, only eight NHL games have ever gone longer than yesterday's/last night's marathon.

Recap

The Victoire turned the tables from game one by scoring the first goal, less than three minutes into the first period. Kristin O'Neill snuck a backhand shot fivehole on Ottawa's Gwyneth Philips while on a breakaway. It was her first goal in 25 games.

In another departure from the first game of the series, Montréal scored their second consecutive goal in the second period, this time a snipe from Laura Stacey coming down the wing.

After two periods of mostly even play, Ottawa made a heavy push in the middle of the third, keeping play firmly in the Victoire’s end. Their pressure earned them a goal from the stick of defender Aneta Tejralová off a faceoff.

With Philips on the bench, the Charge kept up their attack and managed to tie the game up with only 42 seconds remaining.

And then there was essentially an entire second game of hockey, plus some extra.

In the first overtime period, each team had 5-on-3 opportunities, but neither was able to capitalize. After that, there were no penalties called in the remainder of the game, although there were chances for the officials to use their whistles. As the game stretched out over the five-hour mark, the fans in attendance didn’t lose any of their enthusiasm. Chants of “Desbiens!” and “refs you suck” were heard often, and the Victoire faithful gave their team standing ovations after the second and third overtime periods.

The fourth overtime felt like it was going to be the final period. Alexandra Labelle rang a heavy shot off the post just a few minutes in, and the Victoire had an extra jump. But it wasn’t until 15:33 of the game’s seventh period that Catherine Dubois managed to put a shot into the back of Ottawa’s net.

How it went down

Sometimes overtime games can drag after a while. The players start to look exhausted, no one is skating their best, they make obvious mistakes and the other team is also too tired to capitalize on them. This game did not feel like that. While there was definitely fatigue, and a few shifts that made it clear an athlete had been skating for several hours, the game really felt like it could end at any moment. For the most part it was end-to-end hockey, with lots of chances going either way and some excellent saves.

For both teams, the resilience they showed through seven periods of hockey took a huge group effort. After the game, players from both teams cited the efforts of their staff to keep them in PB&Js, smoothies, pickles, and mustard, particularly since the players hadn’t eaten a full meal since several hours before the game began. Both head coaches praised their depth players for the focus and effort they put into being ready to jump into the game after long rests.

“We went a little bit shorter early,” said Ottawa’s head coach Carla MacLeod. “And then, as it was extending out… a handful of our players just re-warmed up and then found themselves back in the game. And that's not easy to do. That's really tough when you're an athlete... I was appreciative. Our coaching staff was appreciative… And we needed that as the game kept going. We needed everyone.”

Montréal utilized their bench slightly more, primarily by mixing lines extensively in the second and third overtime periods. But Dara Greig and Claire Dalton were not part of that rotation; both players went a full period without touching the ice. When they were brought back into the rotation, both players made immediate impacts.

“Those two players are really important to our team culture and environment, and the girls got energized from that,” said Montréal's head coach Kori Cheverie. “It wasn't easy for those two. I didn't use them for maybe a whole period, and then I would just say, hey, get ready, because we're going to need you… I was really happy that I could go back, and they were ready to answer the bell, which was kudos to them, kudos to the amount of effort and work that they put in, and the attention to their focus level.”

Montréal's Ann-Renée Desbiens praised the performance of the whole team for work that showed up on the scoresheet and that didn’t, but she singled out Claire Dalton’s efforts:

“She might not have played the most minutes, but when she did get put on, she blocked shots, she cleared the puck, she generated so much, so it just shows how much deeper our team is this year and we used that to our advantage tonight.”

Ottawa’s players showed a lot of optimism and appreciation for their teammates’ efforts after what might have been a devastating loss.

“Of course, you go through all that, you want to end up with the win on that, but… the locker room is super positive,” said Charge alternate captain Emily Clark. “There's so much to be proud of, so much to take from this game. You get to choose how you respond and it's a long series. So, you know, you kind of park this one. But… I think probably the vibe of everyone is pretty positive and looking forward to game three.”

Encore

Post-game interviews aren’t generally full of laughs, but after five hours of playoff hockey, there were some endorphins floating around, along with some incredulity about how long the game actually went.

Emily Clark was smiling when she answered a question about how she was feeling after the game. “Legs are a little bit sore. But there's no long faces. I think at some points, you just laugh, like it's almost comical, but… it's just a blast. This is what you grow up watching, dreaming of. The mustard's coming out, the pickle juice, you love this. This is exactly what we wanna do… You hear of these crazy stories for games like this, so to be able to live it… it went down easier than I thought it was going to… We just kept the energy as high as we could and had a lot of fun with it.”

Charge head coach Carla MacLeod opened the post-game availability by joking that there should have been snacks on the table for them. She also joked that her take-away from the game was to wear flat shoes next time, after spending seven periods in high heels.

Desbiens said that she appreciated the energy of the fans who were chanting and waving their rally towels vigorously – so much so that she thought someone was going to get hit in the face.

“My legs are fine,” she said, looking at Catherine Dubois, who was seated beside her. “I'm not sure how theirs are, but I wouldn't want to be them right now. I'd rather be a goalie for sure.”

When a reporter asked if she promised Dubois anything for scoring the winning goal, Desbiens shrugged. “No, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can buy you a beer if you want.” As Dubois laughed, Desbiens added, “Or a coffee.”

As the lights were accidentally flickered over the slumped Victoire players, Desbiens announced, “That means it’s time to go home.”

Next up

The Ottawa Charge will host the next two games of the series at TD Place. Game three will be on Tuesday, May 13 at 7pm Eastern, followed by game four at the same time on Friday the 16th. If necessary, game five will come back to Montréal.