From the time the players on both teams entered the ice at the Bell Centre on Saturday afternoon, it felt like a playoff game. From the light show, to the sold out crowd, the largest to ever watch a women’s hockey game, singing the anthem, to the towels waving. After PWHL Montreal entered the ice, the crowd cheered only instead of “Fix You” it was “The Power of Love”.
When Toronto jumped on the ice, the crowd instinctively booed like any good Montreal crowd would, but after the huddles on both sides of the ice formed and there was a wait before the introductions and anthems, it’s like the instinct faded and everybody could simply appreciate what was happening.
There was some booing when Jocelyne Larocque, who is listed as a Canadiens fan in Team Canada’s media guide, was introduced but it was quickly overruled by cheers. The same for Renata Fast, and by the time Emma Maltais – who has family in Quebec and surely had a lot in the stands – was introduced, there was no booing. Sarah Nurse, who followed Maggie Conners, had the loudest ovation only because the cheering for Kristen Campbell, Toronto’s starting goaltender, was mixed. Not with booing, but her trademark ‘SOUP’ coming from Toronto fans.
By the time the crowd cheered through Montreal’s starting lineup (and it was a good thing Marie-Philip Poulin wasn’t introduced last because they would have had to delay the game another 20 minutes), and the anthem was sung, the playoff atmosphere and intensity was there throughout the game.
Which is why after Sarah Nurse’s overtime winner only 13 seconds into the extra frame went in, it was ironic that the result, a 3-2 Toronto win, didn’t really matter at all.
Sure there was disappointment heard throughout the 21,105 of primarily Montreal fans, but it quickly turned into appreciation. They knew that the Montreal team would salute the crowd one more time and they were eagerly anticipating giving them one final send off.
The players knew it was a last moment to soak it all in as well. While the full building being the norm is the next objective, you only get one first, and for some it may even be the last. Nurse, the game’s first star who had two goals on the day, also got one last send off from the Montreal crowd.
“I think when we all skated out there, we weren’t sure how we were going to be received,” Nurse said. “Obviously the crowds here in Montreal can definitely be tough on Toronto teams, so the support everywhere has been incredible. I never dreamed of playing at the Bell Centre, but that was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had. We’re very grateful and it was a great game today.”
While it wasn’t the primary thing on the mind of many, the game did have serious standing implications. Toronto clinched a playoff spot, while the point Montreal earned for the overtime loss put them in a tie for second spot with Minnesota.
As for the game, Blayre Turnbull scored Toronto’s first goal. Montreal responded in the final minute of the first period when Sarah Bujold wired a goal past Campbell to tie it at 1-1 and send the Bell Centre crowd into a frenzy.