The Vancouver Goldeneyes continued a big road trip on Wednesday night (April 1) when they faced off with the Montreal Victoire at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec. This was a game between two teams at opposite ends of the standings, but still an equally important outing for both.
Related: Meet the Newest Siren: Denisa Krizova
Vancouver started the game tied for sixth place with 27 points. They needed a win to keep pace in the playoff race. Montreal sat in second with 46 points looking to punch their ticket to the postseason with a regulation win.
Emerance Maschmeyer led the way for Vancouver with 25 saves in the loss. It was a good game full of back-and-forth play, but a defensive breakdown late cost the Goldeneyes this one as the Victoire took the lead with a little over 10 minutes left and never looked back. Montreal won 3-0.
Goldeneyes Kill Four Penalties
The Victoire have a top-three power play in the league, but the Goldeneyes didn’t seem to mind. They killed off four separate penalties in a 0-0 tie, keeping themselves alive deep into this one. The penalty kill unit, no matter who was out there, stymied any opportunity Montreal had to take control. Despite eventually losing, this is still a good sign for this team.
On the flip side, it’s not so good that Vancouver couldn’t seem to stay out of the box. Four penalties, including two from Claire Thompson, held them back from generating momentum in different parts of the game. Their fourth penalty noticeably ended a string of really great chances. Discipline will be needed, especially with a couple games against two of the best teams in the league coming up.
Nurse Plays Well in Loss
Other than the effort from Maschmeyer, it was Sarah Nurse that gave Vancouver the best chance to win. She led the team with five shots on goal and was creating chances at will. She had a pair of huge chances for herself early in the game, just missing on a partial breakaway in the second. Nurse also laid a solid hit near the end of that period, trying to get her team going.
Nurse has 10 points in 13 games this season. Her five-shot performance isn’t anything new, as she loves to be involved in the offence and create havoc against other teams. She eats a lot of minutes and is an important part of the Goldeneyes.
Goldeneyes Need to Play More Physical
It wasn’t an overly physical game like some of them are, but Vancouver was outworked on that front. They were beaten on the hit board 8-6, and there were a few plays that they should’ve responded to. Abby Roque laid a hard check on Gabby Rosenthal in the first period, after which she was slow to get to the bench. Vancouver didn’t answer the hit or get after Roque, something they maybe should have done to grab some momentum and unite the group.
The team played good defence, but the aggressiveness was lacking overall. The Victoire were able to get close to and even make contact with Maschmeyer. They’ll need to tighten it up a bit.
Goldeneyes Close Out Road Trip Next Week
As mentioned, Vancouver is in the midst of a long trip away from home. They have just two games left on it, with the first being Saturday afternoon (April 4) in St. Paul. They play the Minnesota Frost starting at 12 p.m. MDT. The other game is a Takeover Tour date with the Boston Fleet on Tuesday evening (April 7). That one is at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. MDT.
