PWHL Preview: Toronto at Montréal in the big rink

Toronto at Montréal – 1:00 PM – Centre Bell
Watch on CBC
Streaming: CBC Gem, YouTube
French: RDS

Toronto's last game was a tired outing against Boston where they lost 2-1. This was only two days ago and left them, with four games remaining, at 36 points and a Points % of .600. They are still in first place by one point over Minnesota.

Montréal's last game was also on Thursday, where they beat Minnesota 4-3. They are now only one point back of Minnesota in third place with 34 points and a Points % of .567.

Them

By this time tomorrow, Montréal will have played the teams in front of them for the last time in the regular season. They get to finish against the three below who are contesting for the final playoff spot.

Montréal played Elaine Chuli last game, meaning gold-medalist Ann-Renée Desbiens is available for the big show in front of the big crowd.

All the Worlds stars came out bright and shining on Thursday, with the three stars given to Kristen O'Neill, Marie-Philip Poulin and Erin Ambrose. They're ready to play.

Us

Toronto looked a little underpowered on Thursday. They struggled to stay even in shots with Boston, and only really looked energized on the PK.

Or maybe that's just how it felt considering how the puck bounced.

The Game

This game is going to be loud and the crowd will not be with us. We had our trip to the big stage, and now it's their turn.

There's not much separating these two teams – Toronto controls the puck more in general and allows fewer goals while Montréal neglected to fill out their defence corps after they started with Ambrose. Toronto is bigger and meaner, and Montréal has the best player in the world.

Boston has 25 points, sits in fifth place and has four games left. That means they can finish no better than 37 points and even if they do that, they'll have fewer RW (the first tie-breaker). All Toronto needs is one point to clinch a playoff spot.

That's all well and good, but the top three teams can realistically finish in any order, so if Toronto wants first and the dubious honour of picking their playoff opponent between three and four, they better start winning again.

How about today?