Tuesday night was a big night in this series. A win for Boston would complete the sweep and knock Montreal out of the playoffs. Boston’s 2 game series lead was brought back to Tsongas Center. With just 2,781 fans in attendance, some are wondering about the future of this team. This small crowd did not go unnoticed, a Taylor Swift sing-a-long and Aerin Frankel chants. Boston was in the perfect setting to sweep Montreal and punch their ticket into the PWHL Finals. With Lexie Adzija staying in the lineup after her game misconduct in game two and Jamie Lee Rattray and Loren Gabel making their playoff debut, Boston would be a bigger challenge for Montreal.
Boston was off to another slow start during this series, with just 4 shots in the period. Goaltender Aerin Frankel was already up to 17 saves after the first 20 minutes. Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin snuck one by her to give Montreal the lead at 15:39 in the first period, they don’t call her “Captain Clutch” for nothing.
The second period was much like the first, but Boston was able to match Montreal’s shot this period. They would find themselves in a 2-goal deficit as Montreal’s Maureen Murphy tips one in behind Frankel at 13:35 in the second period. This game would go into the third period, with Montreal up by 2.
The third period arrived and things did not take long to start. Sophie Shirley skated her way into the crease and tucked one behind Desbiens, and it was now a one-goal game at just 7:06 into the third period.
Amanda Pelkey said Boston was not done and she got herself on board as well during a Montreal powerplay to get them the jailbreak goal, this was her second goal of the series (her first being during game 2). There was no better way to celebrate than with your teammate in the penalty box.
The game was now all tied up, and to no surprise, it needed some overtime! All games in this series have gone to overtime, this was a very tense matchup. After a 3 overtime game, there was no telling how much overtime this game needed.
The puck dropped in overtime and at 1:02 into overtime, Susanna Tapani was the overtime hero. Boston defeated Montreal in 3 games to complete the sweep. Boston will head to the PWHL finals and face the winner of the Toronto/Minnesota series. Tapani had 2 goals during this series and her second one came up big.
Boston’s chances to make the playoffs were low but they are now a part of the first-ever PWHL final series. This team has not slowed down and they will be a threat to the team they face in the Finals.
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