Walter Cup – Marie-Philip Poulin’s third-period power-play winner lifts Montreal Victoire past Minnesota Frost 2-1 in Game 5.
A single power-play strike at the right time turned everything for the Montreal Victoire: Marie-Philip Poulin’s go-ahead goal carried the home side past the Minnesota Frost 2-1 in the fifth and deciding game of their PWHL semifinal series, sending Victoire to the Walter Cup Finals.
Poulin, known for producing in high-pressure moments, scored 3:06 into the third period.. The captain’s finish held up as Montreal secured their first appearance in a Walter Cup Final. capping a tense series where Minnesota had already claimed the first two titles before facing elimination for the first time.
The win was especially significant given the obstacles Montreal had already battled.. Poulin played through a lower-body injury that limited her to 10 of the final 11 regular-season games. and she was still not at full form as the playoffs progressed.. Yet in the most crucial contest. she found the extra gear that had been missing at points earlier in the season.
“It’s very special,” Poulin said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It was going to be a battle. We’re happy right now, but we’re not done yet.” Her message matched the tone throughout the game, where momentum swings were frequent and every shift carried playoff weight.
Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie credited Poulin’s ability to elevate her play at the exact moment the series demanded it.. “(She) found another level,” Cheverie said.. “She was incredible.. I can’t say enough great things about Pou and what she’s doing for our group right now.” The result means Montreal. as the first higher seed to win a playoff series in PWHL history. will now face the Ottawa Charge in an all-Canadian Walter Cup Final.
The finals matchup is also a major milestone for the league’s storylines.. With the Frost having won the first two Walter Cup titles, Minnesota had been positioned as the benchmark.. But this time. they couldn’t survive the final game—marking the first time they lost a game when facing elimination.. Their overall record in fifth games was striking. with the team showing up in all three of the league’s deciding Game 5s. and still coming up short in this one.
The road to Tuesday’s finale was shaped by schedule disruption as well.. The game was played 24 hours later than planned after the league postponed Monday’s matchup for player-safety reasons. citing an illness that moved through the Victoire locker room.. That delay added another layer of unpredictability for both teams as they prepared for a win-or-go-home scenario.
Montreal’s goal came during a moment when the Victoire’s power play looked most dangerous.. Erin Ambrose made a cross-ice pass to Poulin, who beat Maddie Rooney on a sharp angle near the goal line.. The play encapsulated what made Montreal’s offense click late: patience to set the seam. and confidence to finish once the lane opened.
Minnesota defender Lee Stecklein, who has faced Poulin countless times in international competition, described the challenge of preparing for her.. “She’s one of the best of all-time,” Stecklein said.. “She’s always hard to play against. a great competitor. a great player. and finds a way to put that puck in the net.” The Frost were left to absorb the reality of how difficult it is to take away opportunities from a player who repeatedly finds finishing angles.
After Poulin’s goal, Minnesota pushed hard to tie the game and keep their season alive.. They pulled Rooney with 2:03 remaining for the extra attacker. but the Frost couldn’t get a shot through on Ann-Renee Desbiens.. The final minutes tested Montreal’s composure, and Cheverie described the emotional strain of holding on.
“The last two minutes felt like 60 minutes,” Cheverie said.. “I was trying not to have a panic attack on the bench, but at the same time I felt calm.. I felt like we had been through it so many times.” The ability to stay structured defensively while chasing momentum reflected Montreal’s playoff maturity in a series that had already featured tight swings.
Desbiens delivered the defensive backbone required for a 2-1 series-clinching victory, making 25 saves.. Her performance included a standout rolling windmill save on Elizabeth Giguere early in the second period. a stop that prevented Minnesota from building momentum in a critical stretch.. Cheverie singled out that save as the kind of improvisation that can define a game when margins are thin.
“There were certainly some moments where she kept us stable and steady,” Cheverie said about her goaltender. “That little windmill save that she did, I see that in small arena games all the time and I’m like ‘ah, she’s never going to use that’ and then she used it tonight.”
Montreal’s scoring began in the first period when Catherine Dubois put a shot on goal that hit off Giguere’s stick and tricked Rooney, resulting in the opener. The goal came at 12:18 of the first period, scored after Minnesota started strongly with a 9-2 shot advantage.
That early shot discrepancy framed how Montreal responded to pressure. While the Frost dictated play at the start, Victoire found a way to convert the type of deflection opportunity that can swing confidence quickly in postseason hockey.
Poulin played a role in the setup sequence as well. moving Dubois right before the faceoff and winning the draw back to her.. Dubois, who was moved to the top line for this game, netted her first playoff goal.. “If Marie tells you something, you listen to her,” Dubois said.. “I listened to her, and it worked.”
Minnesota answered in the second period to even the score at 1-1 when Sam Cogan tipped an Abby Hustler pass in the slot that beat Desbiens at 11:45. Like the first period, the contest remained balanced in terms of chances, with both goaltenders making saves to keep the game from opening up.
Before the tie. Desbiens made several crucial stops. including a rolling two-pad stack save on Giguere. while Rooney came up big on Laura Stacey and Kaitlin Willoughby on separate early chances in the second period.. With each save, the game tightened—forcing Minnesota to work harder for every clear look.
Desbiens also had to manage a moment of danger late in the first.. A Mae Batherson shot was deflected in front by Kendall Coyne Schofield and trickled toward the goal. but Desbiens turned around. used her stick to stop the puck from crossing the line. and then secured it.. The stop was a reminder that the decisive games often come down to whether a goaltender can recover instantly.
Rooney finished the game with 15 saves for Minnesota.. The Frost continued to press for an equalizer after the third-period go-ahead goal. but the last chance that crossed their path ended with Ambrose blocking a shot with just 12 seconds remaining.. That was the closest Minnesota would come as the clock ran out.
The injury backdrop behind the series added another layer to the storyline.. Poulin’s lower-body injury kept her out of the team’s last regular-season games. and Cheverie emphasized her leadership through the entire stretch.. Meanwhile. for Minnesota. the Canadian national team defender—also injured during the Olympics—was kept out of the team’s first eight games after play resumed. according to the report.. In this semifinal, it was her vision that led to the game-winning sequence.
Poulin described the steadiness behind that pass. “She’s so composed, she’s calm, she knows the right thing to do, I’m not surprised that she saw that pass line up,” Poulin said. “She’s a warrior. We’re lucky to have her behind us.”
Now the focus shifts to an all-Canadian Walter Cup Final between the Victoire and the Ottawa Charge.. Game 1 will be played in Montreal on Thursday, and Ottawa will be appearing in its second straight final.. For Montreal. reaching the championship stage for the first time is the reward for grinding through adversity. weathering momentum swings. and finding their best hockey precisely when the series required it.
Montreal Victoire Minnesota Frost Walter Cup Finals Marie-Philip Poulin PWHL semifinals Ann-Renee Desbiens Ottawa Charge
So the whole thing was just a power-play goal??
Not gonna lie, I thought Minnesota would’ve had it. The title says Frost got stunned, but it sounds like it was basically one shot at the right time? Also, how did Poulin even play with an injury if she wasn’t full form? Respect I guess.
Wait I’m confused… Walter Cup finals already? Like is Walter Cup the same as Stanley Cup? Because “finals” makes it sound like they already won everything. And if it was 2-1 then how does that send them to the Finals, doesn’t that seem backwards lol
Lower-body injury, only played like 10 games, and then she pops a power-play at 3:06 in the third… that’s wild. I feel like the refs/penalties were the real MVP though, because the whole deciding moment was special teams. Minnesota already took first two titles so I figured it’d be over faster. Guess not. Also the ‘already claimed the first two titles’ part makes it sound like they’re always winning, but then they’re getting eliminated the first time??