The Montréal Victoire return to action on Thursday night in Newark against the New York Sirens, but they’ll be forced to do so without two key players.
Ahead of the game, the Victoire announced that defender Erin Ambrose has been placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), while captain Marie-Philip Poulin is day-to-day, both listed with a lower-body injury. In corresponding moves, the Victoire signed defender Tamara Giaquinto to a PWHL Standard Player Agreement and defender Kelly-Ann Nadeau to a 10-day contract.
Poulin suffered her injury in preliminary play at the Olympic Games, taking a hit from Czechia’s Kristyna Kaltounkova. She later left the game with an apparent knee injury, and missed the following contest against the United States. The Canadian captain returned for the quarterfinals, but was in visible pain, and had to be driven to the game on a golf cart. She finished the tournament with three goals and an assist in five games played. Poulin played a full 30-game season last year, and had yet to miss a match this season.
Ambrose, meanwhile, took a hit into the boards from United States forward Britta Curl-Salemme in the gold-medal game, which resulted in her leaving the ice for a period of time. Both Poulin and Ambrose did not skate with the team on Wednesday. In their absence, Shiann Darkangelo will centre the top line, and Kati Tabin and Maggie Flaherty will play top defensive pairing on Thursday.
Giaquinto will play her second game of the year Thursday. The 23-year-old was selected in the sixth round by the Victoire in last summer’s entry draft and has made one appearance with the team so far this year. Nadeau has played 10 games for the Victoire over the past two seasons and will be a healthy scratch on Thursday. Neither has registered a point in the PWHL.
The Victoire are set to face off against Kaltounkova and the New York Sirens on Thursday, in what is sure to be fiery affair given the damage the rookie did to Montréal’s captain. So far this season, the Victoire have a win and two losses against the Sirens, all in regulation. Thursday marks the second-last meeting between the two teams this season, with one more showdown scheduled for late March, a Takeover Tour game in Detroit.