Minnesota Frost endure first PWHL regulation road loss of season, falling to the Montreal Victoire

The Minnesota Frost headed to Quebec having barely tasted road failure this season. But the taste was fresh, and Friday the Frost tried a full serving.

The Montreal Victoire scored the first three goals and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Frost at Ball Place in Laval, Quebec.

The game pitted the top two teams in the PWHL standings. With three points for the regulation win, Montreal moved into a tie for first with 20 points.

“They are a good team,” coach Ken Klee said. “We knew it was going to be tight.”

The Frost had been the only PWHL team without a regulation loss on the road, but they came close Wednesday, when New York’s victory came in a shootout.

Before that the Frost (4-3-2-3) had a five-game road winning streak (excluding the Takeover Tour game in neutral site Denver) dating to Game 1 of last season’s PWHL Finals on May 19 in Boston.

Former Gophers forward Abby Boreen gave Montreal (5-2-1-2) the lead when she scored against her old team 8:05 into the game Friday, the sixth game in a row in which the Victoire scored in the first period.

BOXSCORE: Montreal 4, Frost 2

Claire Dalton made the lead 2-0 with a goal two minutes into the second period, and Marie-Philip Poulin made it 3-0 nearly four minutes later on a 5-on-3 power play with Kelly Pannek off for boarding and Maggie Flaherty off for delay of game.

“The 5-on-3 goal is the big difference-maker for me,” Klee said. “That kind of gave them an extra cushion so when we make our push it’s further for us to get there.”

The second period was nearly over when the Frost finally registered, on Kendall Coyne Schofield’s goal 17:52 in.

Boreen tacked on another goal in the third period.

Ann-Renée Desbiens made 21 saves for Montreal, which hadn’t played at home since Dec. 30. Nicole Hensley stopped 20 shots for the Frost.