'Miracle in Laval': How the Montreal Victoire came back to win Game 1 of the Walter Cup final

With precious seconds left in regulation and her team trailing by a goal, Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin sent a Hail Mary pass from the corner of the ice to the front of the Ottawa Charge net.

Just minutes before, Poulin had helped her alternate captain and wife, Laura Stacey, off the ice. A crash into the boards had left Stacey unable to put weight on both skates, and she looked to be in pain going down the tunnel.

It felt like the dagger in Montreal's game, almost like the twisting of a knife.

But Poulin was determined to not let that be it. Her head coach, Kori Cheverie, could see it on the bench when Poulin got the puck and sent it to the blue paint.

"You almost knew that Pou was possessed in that moment," Cheverie said.

In the mass of bodies and sticks and frantic energy, rookie defender Nicole Gosling was able to slip the puck past Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips to tie the game, with 2.1 seconds left on the clock.

"I didn't believe it," Cheverie said about the tying goal. "I got hit in the face with a stick. They jumped on the bench. I thought my ear was bleeding. I didn't know what was going on. But for our team be able to be able to pull something off like that, I just feel like it has gone with how we've played throughout this entire [playoffs] of just never quitting."

Gosling gave the Victoire hope, and then Montreal's Abby Roque provided elation when the puck bonked off her helmet and into the net for the overtime winner. The Victoire defeated Ottawa 3-2 in Game 1 of the best-of-five Walter Cup final series.

Abby Roque's OT winner lifts Victoire over Charge in Walter Cup final opener

"I just saw the puck go right between my eyes and I was like, OK. And then it somehow went in and I was just