LAVAL, Que. - Much of the discussion surrounding the Montreal Victoire through the midway mark of the Professional Women's Hockey League schedule has revolved around captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
The 33-year-old Beauceville, Que., native leads the team in scoring with 13 points in 15 games. Her league-leading 11th goal of the season led Montreal to a 6-2 win over the New York Sirens on Saturday afternoon but also surpassed the 10 goals she scored in 21 games last season.
鈥(Marie-Philip) Poulin has obviously been playing really well lately,鈥 said Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie. 鈥淪he always gives us her best but we do need other people to score.
"Our team is not the Marie-Philip Poulin team.鈥
The scoring depth preached by Cheverie was on full display Saturday, particularly in Montreal鈥檚 four-goal first period. Three came from the team's newly-formed fourth line, including two from Swede Lina Ljungblom.
The 23-year-old opened the scoring for Montreal, accepting a pass from linemate Clair Degeorge before beating Sirens starter Corinne Schroeder for her second goal of the season. She was credited with another before the period ended, deflecting a point shot from Amanda Boulier past Schroeder's glove with just over a minute remaining.
However, Ljungblom said the goal wasn't hers.
"First of all, I didn鈥檛 score two goals,鈥 said Ljungblom 鈥淚t鈥檚 Amanda鈥檚 goal.聽
"I don鈥檛 know where that came from. I scored one goal but I am good with that. It felt good to finally score again.鈥
Added Boulier: 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure Lina tipped it. It went off (someone's) stick. I鈥檓 pretty sure it was Lina鈥檚.鈥
Despite not receiving credit for what would have been her first goal of the season, Boulier was rewarded with the game鈥檚 first star after recording two assists and a plus-three rating.
鈥淲e need that type of depth in scoring if our team is going to be successful in the long run,鈥 said Cheverie. 鈥淎ll these little moments that these players are getting and contributions on the scoreboard are going to pay dividends as the season goes on.鈥
Ljungblom鈥檚 two goals came in a season-low 10:18 of icetime played alongside Degeorge and Maureen Murphy. Nevertheless, she was proud of her line鈥檚 effort and contributions to the team鈥檚 season-high six goals in just their second game together.
鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e just trying to do what we should do out there and what the coaches are telling us to do,鈥 said Ljungblom. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to have fun.
"Today, it felt good for the whole line that we could score some goals. We鈥檙e happy about that.鈥
So is Cheverie.
"I鈥檓 really happy with those roster adjustments that we made,鈥 said Cheverie. 鈥淟ina, (Clair) Degeorge and (Maureen) Murphy are really buying into that group of three.聽
"This kind of adjustment has given them maybe a little more space and time. I really liked their response and was really happy with that line as a whole.鈥
NADEAU MAKES HER PWHL DEBUT
Defender Kelly-Ann Nadeau played her first-ever PWHL game for Montreal after signing with the team Friday. The native of Mont-Laurier, Que., who started the season on the Victoire鈥檚 reserve player list, had a hit in six minutes of icetime. The 26-year-old University of Montreal Carabins' product became just the third player to play in the PWHL straight out of USports. The others were Toronto鈥檚 Rylind MacKinnon and New York鈥檚 Emmy Fecteau.
This report by 春色直播was first published Feb. 15, 2025.
