Victoire De Montréal: Poulin’s Return to Skates Raises 3 Key Questions Before Boston
Marie-Philip Poulin’s return to the ice did more than offer a sightline update for Victoire De Montréal. It reopened the central question around Montreal’s late-season identity: how much does the team change when its captain is back on skates, but not yet clearly back in the lineup? On Wednesday at the CN Complex in Brossard, the answer remained deliberately unfinished. Coach Kori Cheverie would not confirm whether Poulin would face Boston on Friday, leaving the final stretch defined as much by uncertainty as by momentum.
Poulin back on the ice, but the timing remains unclear
Poulin skated in front of the media for the first time since she was placed on long-term injured reserve on March 24. That detail matters because it marks a visible step forward, but not a guarantee of an immediate return. The exact status of her lower-body injury was not clarified in public, and Cheverie avoided committing to a timeline for Friday’s game at Place Bell in Laval, the regular-season finale against the Fleet.
Maureen Murphy was in the same on-ice session, and her situation is also unresolved after a upper-body injury. The team’s caution is notable because both players have been part of the broader equation behind Montreal’s late-season push. Poulin’s season totals — nine goals and eight assists in 18 games — underline how much production has been tied to her availability, but the club has also shown it can absorb absences.
What Victoire De Montréal has built without its captain
The strongest argument for Victoire De Montréal’s resilience is the record it has produced without Poulin. Since her injury in the March 15 loss to Boston, Montreal has won seven of eight games. That run helped push the club into first place, four points ahead of Boston. It also reinforced a broader pattern: this roster has not depended on a single attacking lane.
The numbers support that reading. Eighteen different players have scored at least once this season, and ten skaters have reached four goals or more in 2025-26. Hayley Scamurra, with five goals, is part of that group. Lina Ljungblom’s decisive goal in the 1-0 win over Boston last Saturday added another layer, making her the 12th different Montreal player to score a game-winning goal this season, a league high. In practical terms, that means opponents cannot focus solely on shutting down one line and expect the structure to collapse.
The deeper lesson: role distribution is now a competitive edge
Scamurra described the team’s depth in terms that reveal the internal logic behind the results: every trio, every defensive pair, and even the goaltenders have contributed offense. That is not just a flattering locker-room line. It reflects a roster in which production is spread broadly enough to survive injuries without losing its shape. In a short schedule where three games remain, that kind of distribution becomes a competitive advantage.
Cheverie framed the staff’s approach as an effort to give everyone a role, whether at five-on-five, shorthanded, or on the power play. That is a subtle but important point. A team built around shared responsibility may not look as dominant shift to shift, but it can become harder to solve over time. The 12 game-winning goals from different players suggest Montreal has found a way to keep opponents guessing, which matters even more when top names are in and out of the lineup.
Boston, Vancouver, and Seattle will test the model
The immediate test comes Friday against Boston, a matchup with first place implications and emotional weight because of the March 15 injury that changed Montreal’s trajectory. The season then closes with two Western stops, Tuesday in Vancouver and Saturday, April 25, in Seattle. Those games will not only finish the schedule; they will reveal whether Montreal’s balance can travel.
That broader question extends beyond one roster. If Victoire De Montréal can maintain its position with a spread-out offense and uncertain availability from key players, it offers a useful case study in how depth can stabilize a contender. The tradeoff is obvious: when a captain like Poulin is unavailable, the burden shifts into the collective, and the margins tighten quickly.
For now, the team has already answered one part of the test by staying atop the standings. The next one is more delicate: can Victoire De Montréal turn a promising return to skates into a final surge, or will the season’s last games show how much still rests on one captain’s next step?
