Lphf Clash In Laval Leaves Victoire With Injury Concerns After Goaltending Duel
In a match billed as the season’s most anticipated in the lphf, the Victoire de Montréal hosted the Fleet de Boston at the Place Bell on Sunday, a contest presented on RDS2 beginning at 1: 00 pm ET that combined a high-end goaltending duel with a worrying injury to the Victoire’s captain.
Lphf Goaltending Duel: Desbiens vs. Frankel
The game offered a direct confrontation between Ann-Renée Desbiens and Aerin Frankel, two netminders described as the cream of the league at their position. Statistically, the fleet’s keeper holds one more victory — 12 to 11 — but has played one more game, 16 compared with 15. Each goaltender has recorded four shutouts this season; together they account for eight of the league’s 14 shutouts in 2025-2026.
Desbiens entered the matchup with a goals-against average of 1. 06 and a save percentage of. 958, while Frankel’s numbers read 1. 28 and. 949. Notably, Desbiens had not conceded more than two goals in any single lphf outing this season; Frankel had allowed more than two goals on three occasions, including one game in which she surrendered four.
Both are widely regarded as top candidates for the league’s most valuable player honor this season, and if one were to finish first in the voting it would mark the first time a goaltender in the league had earned that distinction.
Standings, Rematch History And Stakes
The match pitted the two teams that occupy the top of the standings: the Fleet (9-4-2-3 — 37 points) holds a two-point edge over the Victoire (9-4-0-5 — 35 points), with 12 games remaining for each club. Their most recent meeting before Sunday had been on November 23, a season-opening 2-0 win for the Fleet at the Tsongas Center.
The schedule includes two additional matchups in April, one of them the Fleet’s first game at the TD Garden on April 11, which was announced as sold out. The Victoire have surged in recent weeks, compiling six straight wins and nine victories in their last 10 outings (7-2-0-1), a run that coaching staff attribute in part to strong special teams and outstanding goaltending.
Indigenous Celebration And Poulin’s Injury Cloud The Night
The evening also served as a Match of Indigenous Peoples for the Victoire de Montréal, a program designed to honor Indigenous cultures and contributions through on-ice ceremonies and performances. A recognition of territory was delivered in Mohawk, French and English by Adysson Stacey. The national anthem was sung by Élisabeth St-Gelais, and the ceremonial faceoff featured Francis Verreault-Paul alongside Kehte Dailleboust. First-intermission programming included a traditional vocal performance by Atsenhakèniate Lazare accompanied by powwow dancers; the second intermission offered contemporary Indigenous music from DJ POPTRT plus a traditional set by Singing Wind Deer with powwow dancers. Messaging and arena presentations were integrated across the event to center Indigenous voices.
On the ice, Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin appeared to re-injure her right knee during the first period after a hit from Shay Maloney while her team was on the power play with just over three minutes remaining in the opening frame. Poulin took time to reach the bench and then proceeded directly to the dressing room; she was not present on the bench to start the second period. Earlier in the season she had sustained an injury to the same knee during the second Canada game at the Olympic tournament in Milan–Cortina, missed two preliminary games before returning for the quarterfinals, and had been in the lineup for her club after missing the first Victoire game following the Olympics. She had registered her team’s opening goal in Sunday’s game prior to exiting.
Medical updates were not available at the arena by the final buzzer. With a tight race atop the standings and more meetings between these teams to come in April, the status of the Victoire’s captain and the continued duel between the two elite goaltenders will be central storylines as the lphf regular season progresses.
