LAVAL, Quebec (AP) 鈥� Susanna Tapani scored in overtime and Aerin Frankel made a league-record 53 saves to lead Boston to a 2-1 win over Montreal in Game 1 of a Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey League semifinal series on Thursday night.
鈥淭remendous,鈥� Boston head coach Courtney Kessel said of her goalie. 鈥淛ust when you think everyone is beat on the ice, she comes flying across the net.鈥�
Tapani pounced on a loose puck in the blue paint at 14:25 of the extra period for the first overtime goal in PWHL playoff history.
Lexie Adzija scored in regulation for Boston. The visitors entered the best-of-five semifinal with wins in four of their final five games, including a 4-3 victory over Montreal in the final game of the regular season.
Kristin O鈥橬eill scored and Ann-Ren茅e Desbiens stopped 24 shots for Montreal, which finished second in the PWHL regular season and six points ahead of third-place Boston.
鈥淔rankel played really well, we had 54 shots, I think it鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e done that,鈥� Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin said. 鈥淲e just have to keep with it, keep throwing a lot of shots at the net, hinder her sight, putting traffic in front of her.鈥�
Game 2 in the series is Saturday in Laval.
The winner meets Toronto or Minnesota in a best-of-five final for the Walter Cup. Toronto leads the other semifinal 1-0.
Montreal went 1 for 5 on the power play in a chippy game. Boston was 0 for 2.
Laura Stacey nearly ended the game on a breakaway 10 minutes into the extra period but missed high after chasing down a stretch pass from M茅lodie Daoust.
Keller then put Montreal on the power play by slashing the stick out of Stacey鈥檚 hands. Montreal, however, couldn鈥檛 capiltalize.
鈥淚 had a couple lucky bounces,鈥� Frankel said. 鈥淪omeone told me the puck was in my pants at one point and then fell out. 鈥� We had a little bit of puck luck tonight.鈥�
With Boston trailing 1-0, Shirley cut to the inside and ripped a shot that hit Adzija鈥檚 stick and beat Desbiens to tie the game 1:48 into the third period.
O鈥橬eill opened the scoring with a power-play goal 1:07 into the second period. Stacey鈥檚 one-timer hit Frankel鈥檚 shoulder and fell on the goal line before O鈥橬eill knocked it into the net.
Montreal led the shots 25-10 after 40 minutes and 12-2 after 20.
Montreal played without forward Sarah Lefort, who was suspended for one game ahead of Game 1 for her open-ice hit on Boston forward Jamie Lee Rattray in the final game of the regular season Saturday.
Rattray, Taylor Girard and Loren Gabel 鈥� all forwards 鈥� were out of the lineup for Boston.
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AP women鈥檚 hockey:
The Associated Press
