Victoire Vibe Vol. 2.7

Montréal locked up the regular season championship in their final game, but that victory disguises a team that is not exactly peaking at the right time. They earned the right to select their first round opponent, and chose the Ottawa Charge, who have improved toward the end of the season but clinched playoffs at the last possible moment. There are a lot of questions about what the Victoire are capable of right now. Who has the advantage between the powerhouse on a skid, and the team playing their first post-season games in franchise history?

What’s not working?

No surprise here: the power play has not been working. The Victoire did get two power play goals in their three games back after the break, but those came on 14 opportunities for a flat 14% conversion rate. Not only that, but they allowed two shorthanded goals during those 14 advantages. All four of those goals came while the second unit was on the ice, which may make for exciting viewing, but doesn’t inspire confidence in anyone involved.

Depth scoring has continued to be an issue after the World Championship break. The top line scored four of the team’s eight goals. Catherine Dubois was the only other forward to score. 

Top-pairing defender Anna Wilgren went down in the Victoire’s final game of the regular season. Head coach Kori Cheverie said post-game that Wilgren was held out for precautionary reasons. Cheverie also called defender Mariah Keopple’s absence from the road trip ‘precautionary,’ which raises questions on the team’s use of the term, since Keopple was spotted on crutches just a few days prior.

If either Wilgren or Keopple are unable to return to the team for the start of the series against Ottawa, Dominika Lásková would draw back into the lineup. If both are unable to play, it seems likely that Kelly-Ann Nadeau would be added as well– the reserve defender played the last two games of the regular season on a 10-day SPA. While both Lásková and Nadeau are capable of skating in the lineup, neither have played much this season, and Montréal struggled to move the puck up the ice the last time the team was down two regular defenders, just last week against Boston.

What is working?

Ann-Renée Desbiens has played in 21 games this season for the Victoire. She has allowed three goals in three games. In the other 18 games, she allowed two goals or fewer. While the Victoire have one of the best defensive corps in the league, it's worth pointing out that Desbiens’ Goals Against Average is more than half a goal below that of her back-up, Elaine Chuli. Desbiens should absolutely be a Goaltender of the Year finalist, and she has a strong argument to win the award. She is a huge reason for why the Victoire still feel like a Cup contender right now.

The top line continues to be the other reason this team is still in the running for the Walter Cup. They combined for seven points in the last three games of the regular season, which includes Marie-Philip Poulin’s two goals in the regular season final and Laura Stacey scoring the overtime winner against Boston. This is the Victoire’s only reliable scoring line, but they are so reliable that they can keep the team afloat.

Catherine Dubois scored a goal in the last three games since the end of the international break. She said the team brought people in to work with the players who stayed behind from Worlds on their shots, and that gave her the confidence to be shooting more. Her goal in the final game against New York brought her to six on the season, equaling her point total from last year and tying her with Abby Boreen for third on the team.

Despite everything I’ve just said about the bottom three lines not scoring outside of Cath Dubois, there has been a lot of promise. Alexandra Labelle returned from injury after missing 11 games and reunited with Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Claire Dalton on one of the Victoire’s most reliably ice-tilting lines of the season. Kristin O’Neill has been centering Dubois and Kaitlin Willoughby and they have had a number of good chances. Dara Greig, who has been used as a thirteenth forward for a while now, has looked capable and dangerous when she rests forwards on any line. She had an assist on the game-winner against New York. According to Coach Cheverie, she has also taken over the aux-cord for the Victoire’s post-game music, showing what a valuable member of the team she truly is.

Vibe check

The Victoire have faced a lot of questions going back over a month now on the lack of production from the bottom nine. The answers have been consistent: the team’s coaching staff and leadership group push the message of process over production, and they focus on the positives.

Laura Stacey emphasized the belief the team has had in each other after the overtime win against Boston: “We've had that resilience, but it takes moments like that to really realize it, to really kind of hone in on it. That's what we did: every single person, whether they were on the ice in OT or not. They were picking each other up, cheering each other on, and that's what makes all the difference. Having your teammates believe in you, having the belief in the coaches, all those things, it pays off in the end.”

The other point of emphasis that Coach Cheverie has been paying attention to is the underlying numbers, both defensively and offensively, which show that things are not as bad as they look on the game sheets. 

“For the most part, I feel like we've just been at that boiling point where it could go either way,” Cheverie said after the last-minute loss against Ottawa. “And we need some of those bounces to go in, you know?”

PWHL teams have access to a lot of numbers and analyses which are not available to the public, but my eye test, at least, agrees with her. The Victoire have been generating offense, it’s just the finishing that hasn’t been present.

Coach Cheverie’s ‘boiling point’ comment made me think of the last time I heard a team’s coaches and captains speak with the same kind of belief in the team and the stats that the public can’t see: it was on January 30, after the Sceptres had lost their sixth of their last nine games. Toronto’s head coach Troy Ryan predicted that his team was going to turn things around based on how they had been playing during their rough patch. After that night, Toronto went on a six-game win streak.

Maybe this is that moment for Montréal.

What’s next?

The Victoire will host the Ottawa Charge at Place Bell on Thursday, May 8 in the evening, and them Sunday, May 11 in the afternoon. They will travel to Ottawa for at least one game on the evening of Tuesday, May 13. After that? We'll have to wait and see.