The top two teams in the PWHL face off tonight as the Montreal Victoire and Boston Fleet battle for first place on TSN.
Watch the Victoire host the Fleet LIVE at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN1/5 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Montreal is currently up one point on Boston in the standings as both teams have three games remaining on their regular-season schedules.
Despite not having captain Marie-Philip Poulin in the lineup since Mar. 15 due to injury, the Victoire have gone 7-1 in that stretch, winning their past six games.
Her absence has given Laura Stacey and Abby Roque an opportunity to step up and they have delivered.
Stacey has seven goals and 21 points in 27 games this season, including nine in her past eight contests.
Meanwhile, Roque has found a home in Montreal after arriving via trade in the off-season from the New York Sirens. The 28-year-old is having a career season with seven goals and 20 points in 26 games this season.
Like Montreal, Boston has also been one of the PWHL’s hottest teams as of late, going 6-2 in their past eight games.
Forward Jessie Eldridge has fit in nicely with the Fleet since arriving via trade from the Seattle Torrent on March 16 in exchange for Theresa Schafzahl.
In eight games with Boston, the 28-year-old has five goals and one assist. With Seattle, she had seven goals and 13 points in 19 games.
This contest could see two of the league’s best goaltenders go head-to-head in Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens and Boston’s Aerin Frankel.
The two goalies have been neck and neck statistically all season long. Desbiens has the edge in save percentage (.956 to .953) and goals-against average (1.08 to 1.19) while Frankel has the edge in wins (18 to 17).
Desbiens captured the PWHL’s goaltender of the year award last season while Frankel has been a finalist the past two seasons.
The two teams have faced off three times previously this season. In their second meeting, the Victoire coughed up a 3-0 lead heading into the third period as the Fleet came back and won in overtime.
In their most recent contest on Apr. 11, Montreal picked up a 1-0 win as Lina Ljungblom scored the game’s only goal in the third period and Desbiens made 20 saves for the shutout.
