MONTREAL — The Montreal Victoire secured their place in the PWHL Walter Cup Finals on Tuesday night, overcoming a 24-hour delay caused by a team illness to edge the Minnesota Frost 2-1 in the decisive Game 5 of the semifinal series.
After the postponement Monday, the Frost came out aggressively in the opening minutes, pinning Montreal in its own zone and outshooting the Victoire 9-1 midway through the first period. However, goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stood tall, making a key save that pulled a puck off the goal line to keep the game scoreless. Her early heroics paved the way for Montreal to take the lead when Catherine Dubois fired a shot over Maddie Rooney’s outstretched stick at 12:18 of the first frame.
Minnesota forward Samantha Cogan tied the game 1-1 early in the second period, setting up a winner-takes-all third period. With the game on the line, captain Marie-Philip Poulin delivered once again, scoring the game-winner to give Montreal its first-ever playoff series victory. Desbiens finished with 25 saves on 26 shots in what was her strongest performance of the postseason.
The Victoire now advance to face the Ottawa Charge in a best-of-five series for the Walter Cup championship. For the Frost, the loss marked their first defeat when facing elimination, ending their bid for a third straight league title after winning back-to-back championships in the PWHL’s first two seasons.
Dubois made an immediate impact after being moved up to the top line alongside Poulin and Laura Stacey by coach Kori Cheverie. On a set play, Poulin won an offensive-zone faceoff against Kelly Pannek and fed the puck to Dubois, who beat Rooney cleanly. The goal was no surprise—Dubois scored the game-winner in Montreal’s quadruple-overtime marathon against Boston in the 2024 playoffs and netted four goals when Poulin was sidelined with injury this season.
Poulin once again proved her clutch pedigree, despite clearly not being at full strength after