LAVAL, Que. — Kori Cheverie saw the signs coming.
The Montreal Victoire head coach wanted her team to extend its winning streak to seven games. She also saw the positives of getting a wake-up call at the midway mark of the Professional Women's Hockey League season.
League-leading Montreal (9-3-1-3) was shut out for the first time this season in a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday.
"We were due for a game like this,” Cheverie said. “Things were feeling just a bit too easy, and it's good that it happens now.
“It's a good learning lesson for our group, because we need to have these hard games if we're going to win the Walter Cup."
Maddie Rooney was solid, making 21 saves for her first shutout this season to lead Minnesota. The Frost also dealt Montreal its previous loss on Jan. 12 during a neutral-site game in Denver.
Denisa Krizova scored twice — including an empty-netter — while Liz Schepers and Kendall Coyne Schofield also found the back of the net for Minnesota (6-4-3-6).
The Victoire, however, mostly looked in the mirror and blamed themselves for a subpar showing. After putting up nine shots in the first period, they mustered only three in the second before failing to convert despite a late push in the third.
"We all know it wasn't our best performance,” captain Marie-Philip Poulin said “We were a bit flat the whole game. Nothing was working. We had trouble breaking out of our zone, Minnesota exited well.”
"We didn't feel like we had the battle and the compete,” Cheverie added. “We didn't feel like we won too many one-on-one battles.”
While her team was flat, Cheverie believes it’s easy for other teams to find motivation against the league leaders.
“It's important that our players understand that and know what it takes every single game," she said. "We're at the top of the league, and it's easy to get up to play us, like it's really easy. Why wouldn't you want to beat that team? So we just have to find ways to feel that against other teams as well."
The Frost moved into sole possession of second place in the six-team PWHL. Montreal still tops the league standings with 34 points — five more than Minnesota with two games in hand. For that reason, Cheverie isn't smashing the panic button.
“There's no point in crying over spilled milk, and we just move on and respond on Saturday,” she said. “That's what we have to do as a pro team."
Defender Amanda Boulier said the players were mad after the game and described the scene in the dressing room as “not a pretty picture.”
But by the time they spoke to reporters, Boulier, Poulin and Laura Stacey were already sharing a laugh and focusing their attention to Saturday’s road matchup against the Ottawa Charge.
“We’re a resilient group, and we cooled down and regrouped. We know that fun is a big part of our success,” Boulier said. "We have just a ton of confidence in our group and in our response.
"We know we're going to have a really good practice on Thursday and Friday, and come ready to play on Saturday.”
WHEELS UP
The Frost wrapped up after their longest road trip in team history, travelling 4,828 kilometres in 11 days from Minnesota to Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and Montreal.
Minnesota lost its first three road games — including an 8-3 defeat in Ottawa — but heads home with a win.
"It was just about putting 60 minutes together," head coach Ken Klee said. "It's not like we were really bad, but we just were finding ways to not do little things well. And today, our details were great. The girls all played super hard."
GETTING THE CALL
Gabrielle David — after playing almost the entire inaugural PWHL campaign — was on the outside looking in this season.
The Montreal reserve player finally got a chance Tuesday, signing a 10-day contract to replace forward Lina Ljungblom, who was absent Tuesday for undisclosed reasons.
"Every time she touched the ice, I thought that she had an impact," Cheverie said. "She did exactly what was asked of her. She put pucks in, she got shots to the net, she made some nice touches through the neutral zone."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
