Ambrose, Stacey help Montreal beat Boston 2-1 in OT in PWHL play
Erin Ambrose scored a goal and assisted on Laura Stacey's winner in overtime to help Montreal beat Boston 2-1 Sunday and climb to the top of the Professional Women's Hockey League standings.
Ambrose, on the left side, slipped a pass between two defenders and in front of Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel to Stacey at the far post for a tap-in goal with 2:24 left in OT at Tsongas Center.
“Ambrose gave me a great pass,” Stacey said. “She was very patient, as there were several sticks in the way.
“I knew she'd be able to reach me.”
Ambrose opened the scoring with 4:01 left in the first period. Marie-philip Poulin dropped a one-touch pass to Ambrose, who knifed in front of the net and beat Frankel to make it 1-0.
Elaine Chuli got her third win in as many starts this season for Montreal (3-3-1-1) and stopped 26 of the 27 shots she faced. Her 0.962 save percentage this season is best in the league.
“I'm glad we came away with the win,” Chuli said.
“In overtime, the game opens up a lot. I'm very proud of the group.”
Although Montreal's No. 1 goalie is Ann-renée Desbiens, Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie knows her team always has a chance to win when Chuli is in front of the net.
“It was no different tonight,” Cheverie said.
“She continues to look more and more comfortable with each game and once again, she gave us an excellent performance.”
Sophie Shirley scored her first goal of the season for Boston (22-1-2) about four minutes into the third period to make it 1-1.
Sarah Bujold committed a turnover near her net, wanting to get rid of the puck, but Hannah Brandt was close and intercepted it.
Brandt immediately pushed the puck toward her teammate, who was in a good position to shoot, and Shirley scored.
Aerin Frankel made 28 saves for Boston.
Chuli mentioned after the game that Bujold apologized to her for her mistake.
“She came to see me later in the game,” Chuli said, laughing. “Everything was fine. Things like that can happen.”
Brandt took the first penalty of the game midway through the first period to give Montreal a power play.
Montreal, which had scored only one goal in 24 power plays before Sunday's game, had all kinds of chances in the second minute of Brandt's penalty, but failed to find the back of the net.
The team was also unable to take advantage of a power play later in the game.
However, Cheverie doesn't seem worried about her team's lack of goals in this situation.
“I liked the look of our power play,” Cheverie said. “It created a lot of rhythm for us.”
With the two points from the overtime win, Montreal climbed to 17 on the season, two ahead of Minnesota in the PWHL standings.
Boston sits in a three-way tie for third with 11 points, but has two games in hand on Toronto and New York.
■ Notes: Poulin is second in the PWHL in points (nine) and tied for second with six goals.