Desbiens shines as Victoire take 2-1 series lead over Frost

The PWHL’s only Water Cup champion is on the verge of elimination.

The Montreal Victoire defeated the Minnesota Frost 2-1 in Game 3 of their first-round series Thursday night, putting the two-time defending champs just one loss away from their first playoff series loss in franchise history.

Victoire netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 27 of 28 shots to get her second win of the series, while Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney made 17 saves in a losing effort.

Montreal can earn their first-ever playoff series win Friday night if they beat the Frost in Game 4.

Frost defender Sidney Morin opened the scoring just minutes into the game after a Lee Stecklein point shot deflected off multiple players and squeaked past Desbiens to make it 1-0.

Britta Curl-Salemme, who was suspended from Game 2 after delivering a high hit on Victoire forward Kaitlin Willoughby in Game 1, was originally credited with the goal before the correction was made.

In a window of less than 30 seconds in the second period, the Victoire tied it up — then took the lead.

Maggie Flaherty carried the puck in the Frost zone and fired a shot at Rooney, then scooped up her own rebound and tucked in a wraparound to tie the game 1-1.

Moments later, Hayley Scamurra came away from a scrum in the Minnesota zone with the puck and fired a wrister past Rooney to give the Victoire the lead.

Montreal never looked back. The Frost outshot the Victoire 11-1 in the third period in a mad scramble to tie the game, but Desbiens, who made 38 saves to get the shutout in Montreal’s Game 2 win, stood tall.

This is a breaking update. More to come…

Check out PWHL playoff hub here

Read Daily Faceoff’s Game 1 and Game 2 recap here

Read Tyler Kuehl’s Game 1 and Game 2 recaps of the series between the Boston Fleet and Ottawa Charge