{"id":561347,"date":"2026-03-26T05:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/561347\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:01:13","slug":"desbiens-records-fifth-shutout-as-montreal-defeats-minnesota-3-0-pwhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/561347\/","title":{"rendered":"DESBIENS RECORDS FIFTH SHUTOUT AS MONTR\u00c9AL DEFEATS MINNESOTA 3-0 | PWHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Highlights and Press Conferences available on\u202fMontr\u00e9al<\/a>\u202fand\u00a0Minnesota<\/a>\u202fYouTube channels\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

ST. PAUL, MN\u202f(March\u00a025, 2026) \u2013\u202fAnn-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens\u2019 stellar season\u00a0continued on\u00a0Wednesday,\u00a0making\u00a021 saves for her fifth shutout of the\u00a0campaign\u00a0to lead Montr\u00e9al to a 3-0 win over Minnesota at Grand Casino Arena. Catherine Dubois scored the game-winner late in the second period, while Hayley\u00a0Scamurra\u00a0and Lina\u00a0Ljungblom\u00a0added third-period goals for the Victoire. After a scoreless first in which the teams combined\u00a0for just\u00a011 shots, Montr\u00e9al\u00a0came out\u00a0strong in the second,\u00a0outshooting\u00a0Minnesota 12-6 in the\u00a0frame. Dubois\u00a0finally\u00a0broke the deadlock with 41 seconds\u00a0remaining\u00a0in the period,\u00a0with a blast from the high slot,\u00a0capitalizing on\u00a0a turnover\u00a0in the Frost zone.\u00a0Scamurra\u00a0doubled the lead at 5:03 of the third with a net-front goal, her third of the season.\u00a0Ljungblom\u00a0extended the advantage to 3-0 midway through the final frame\u00a0with her third tally of the season with\u00a0a top-shelf snapshot over Maddie Rooney\u2019s blocker. Desbiens stopped nine shots in the third period to secure her 13th win of the season. Rooney made 25 saves in the loss, her first regulation defeat since Jan. 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the win, Montr\u00e9al moved into second place, one point ahead of Minnesota, which dropped to third in the PWHL standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

QUOTES\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victoire Head Coach\u00a0Kori Cheverie\u00a0on the team’s success against the Frost: “Minnesota is always a really competitive game for us. They have team speed, and\u00a0it’s\u00a0something that we certainly focus on in terms\u00a0of:\u00a0how do we slow a team down that has that much team speed, and that much team depth. They’re a team that wins hockey games, and we seem to rise to the occasion, and especially in this building.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montr\u00e9al goaltender\u00a0Ann-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens\u00a0on the team played in front of her: “It was a really\u00a0a big\u00a0team effort from every single player out there. I thought we\u00a0kept\u00a0working hard. And when you wear a team down after\u00a0two,\u00a0three periods, sometimes it takes a little longer to get rewarded with goals. But obviously Dubois\u00a0had\u00a0a nice shot on that goal. Lina\u00a0[Ljungblom], Hayley\u00a0Scamurra, all\u00a0[players]\u00a0that always work so hard, so it was nice to see them rewarded with goals tonight. And obviously that gave us a lot of confidence. We did such a good job defensively at taking their time and space away, being physical when we needed it, and taking their opportunities.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frost Head Coach\u00a0Ken Klee\u00a0on the result of tonight\u2019s game: “I think either team was looking for a break or a bounce, and they got\u00a0theirs\u00a0right at the end of the second [period] which I think gave them some momentum. We\u00a0weren’t\u00a0as\u00a0sharp as\u00a0we’d\u00a0like to be, but\u00a0they’re\u00a0a good hockey team.\u00a0We’ve\u00a0been on a good role, and\u00a0we’re\u00a0going to have one of those every now and then. Now we have a couple of good days of practice and reset for Sunday.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frost Alternate Captain\u00a0Lee Stecklein\u00a0on overall thoughts of the game: “I think like [Coach Ken Klee] said, we weren’t at our sharpest.\u00a0I’m\u00a0proud of us for continuing to stick to\u00a0it. We really just couldn’t find a way to get as much going as we were used to, but always something to learn from the game, and that’s what we’ll have to do from here.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

NOTABLES\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montr\u00e9al wins the season series against Minnesota 10-2 in points \u2014 winning all four contests \u2014 with two regulation victories and two overtime wins. This is the first season series in which the Frost\u00a0did not\u00a0win at least one game against an opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Victoire became just the second team in PWHL history to record a 10-game point streak, boasting a\u00a06-2-2-0 record since defeating the Frost in overtime on Jan. 21. They are one game shy of the league record of 11 straight games with a point set by Toronto in the inaugural season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montr\u00e9al has scored at least three goals in eight of their last nine games\u00a0and are 9-2-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minnesota, with the league\u2019s highest scoring offense, was shut out for just the second time this season, both\u00a0times\u00a0against\u00a0Montr\u00e9al.\u00a0The only Frost losses since Jan. 4 have come against the Victoire, going 7-2-0-0 against all other teams and scoring at least three goals in all nine games in that stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Frost lost their first game at Grand Casino Arena since falling to the Victoire on Jan. 21, snapping a four-game streak\u00a0which was tied for the longest in team history at the primary home venue.\u00a0This was also the first time in nine games on home ice in which they conceded more than two goals against.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0crowd of 6,803 helped make PWHL history\u00a0tonight\u00a0with the league surpassing 2 million fans all-time since launching on Jan. 1, 2024. The milestone\u00a0was officially\u00a0surpassed during the Takeover Tour game in Chicago, which started an hour later, bringing the league\u2019s total attendance to 2,001,975 in 275 games, including playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ann-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens\u00a0recorded her fifth shutout of the season and second straight against Minnesota following a 4-0\u00a0win\u00a0on March 1.\u00a0She sits second in shutouts behind Aerin Frankel (6) and\u00a0is tied with the Boston netminder in save percentage (.952), while leading all goaltenders in goals-against average (1.21).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maddie Rooney\u00a0saw her seven-game win streak come to an end with tonight\u2019s loss.\u00a0Her last defeat was on Jan.\u00a04, in overtime\u00a0against\u00a0Montr\u00e9al, which also marked the last\u00a0time she allowed\u00a0three or more goals against. Her last regulation loss was on Jan. 3 vs. Ottawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Catherine Dubois\u00a0scored her second goal \u2014 and point \u2014 of the season, in her 16th game. The tally was her second in her last three games after going goalless in her first fourteen games of the season. The veteran forward also reached the\u00a010-goal mark in her regular-season career with the marker, doing so in 61 games played across three seasons with Montr\u00e9al.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hayley\u00a0Scamurra\u00a0notched her third goal of the season\u00a0in her 22nd\u00a0game, reaching\u00a010\u00a0points for the second time in her career,\u00a0which ties\u00a0her career high, previously set during the PWHL\u2019s inaugural season in 24 games with Ottawa. The U.S. Olympian also matched a career high with seven shots on goal, a mark she has now reached four times (previous\u00a0three in 2024).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lina\u00a0Ljungblom\u00a0now has three goals in 13 games this season, tying the mark she had\u00a0in 2024-25\u00a0in\u00a029 games, and climbing to 10 career points.\u00a0The Swedish forward also fired a season-high three shots on goal in the contest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicole Gosling\u00a0recorded an assist,\u00a0hitting\u00a0the scoresheet for the second straight game and fourth time in her last five contests\u00a0(1G, 4A). The\u00a0rookie\u00a0defender, who\u00a0led all Montr\u00e9al skaters in the game with 23:14 TOI, sits third in scoring among\u00a0rookie\u00a0blueliners with\u00a011 points (2G,\u00a09A) in 22 games played.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kati Tabin\u00a0had the lone assist on\u00a0Ljungblom\u2019s\u00a0tally, reaching double-digit points (2G, 8A) in a season for the first time in her PWHL career.\u00a0The Victoire\u00a0rearguard\u00a0is now just one point shy of reaching 25 career regular-season points, a mark\u00a0eight defenders\u00a0have reached so far in league history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Skylar Irving\u00a0notched her fourth assist for her sixth point of the season.\u00a0The\u00a0Victoire\u00a0rookie\u00a0forward also played a season-high 17:05 TOI, surpassing\u00a0her\u00a0previous\u00a0high\u00a0of\u00a013:39, set just last game\u00a0(March 22 vs. OTT).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kelly\u00a0Pannek\u00a0and\u00a0Britta Curl-Salemme\u00a0each had their five-game point streaks come to an end tonight.\u00a0Despite being held off the scoresheet, the Frost forwards\u00a0remain\u00a0in a three-way tie\u00a0with teammate\u00a0Taylor Heise\u00a0atop the PWHL leaderboard\u00a0with 22 points apiece.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nadia Mattivi\u00a0made her PWHL debut with Montr\u00e9al after signing a Standard Player Agreement on March 23. The defender, who served as captain for Team Italy at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games,\u00a0played\u00a08:34\u00a0with one shot on goal\u00a0in her debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

THREE STARS<\/p>\n

1.\u202f\u00a0Ann-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens\u00a0(21\/21\u00a0SV, SO)\u00a0
2.\u202f\u00a0Hayley\u00a0Scamurra\u00a0(1G, 7S)\u00a0
3.\u202f\u00a0Cartherine\u00a0Dubois (1G)\u00a0<\/p>\n

STANDINGS<\/p>\n

Montr\u00e9al:\u202f43\u202fPTS (11-4-2-5) \u2013\u202f2nd\u202fPlace\u00a0
Minnesota:\u202f42\u202fPTS (11-3-3-5) \u2013\u202f3rd\u202fPlace\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

UPCOMING SCHEDULES\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montr\u00e9al:\u00a0Saturday, Mar. 28\u00a0vs.\u00a0New York\u00a0at\u00a01\u00a0p.m. ET\u202f\u2013 Takeover Tour Detroit\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minnesota: Sunday, Mar. 29\u00a0vs.\u00a0Boston\u00a0at\u00a03\u00a0p.m.\u00a0CT \/\u00a04\u00a0p.m. ET\u00a0<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR STATS\u202f<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highlights and Press Conferences available on\u202fMontr\u00e9al\u202fand\u00a0Minnesota\u202fYouTube channels\u202f\u202f\u00a0 ST. PAUL, MN\u202f(March\u00a025, 2026) \u2013\u202fAnn-Ren\u00e9e Desbiens\u2019 stellar season\u00a0continued on\u00a0Wednesday,\u00a0making\u00a021 saves for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-561347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}