OTTAWA (Interstat) — Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped all 23 shots she faced and Abby Roque scored twice as Montreal Victoire blanked Ottawa Charge 4-0 on May 20 at Canadian Tire Centre to win Game 4 and the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff series 3-1. Montreal was the visiting team, and Ottawa was the home team. Montreal scored four unanswered goals to complete the best-of-five series victory. The Victoire improved to 28-11, while the Charge fell to 21-17. Montreal has won the series and advanced. Desbiens was named Montreal’s top star after her 23-save shutout.

Montreal took a 2-0 series lead with overtime wins at home in Games 1 and 2. The Victoire won Game 1 3-2 in overtime and Game 2 2-1 in overtime. Ottawa won Game 3 at home 2-1 to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Victoire then closed out the series in Game 4, handing the Charge their first loss of the series on home ice. Game 4 was the eighth meeting of the season between the teams, and Montreal had won five of the first seven. Ottawa was shut out for the first time in the series. Montreal’s four-goal margin was its largest of the series. The Charge’s season ended with the loss, while the Victoire advanced.

The opening period ended scoreless. Nadia Mattivi received a 2-minute boarding penalty at 15:02 of the first. Montreal killed the penalty, and Desbiens made the saves needed to keep the game tied. Ottawa could not convert its chances in the first, and the teams went to the first intermission with no goals. Montreal’s penalty kill kept the Charge off the board, and the Victoire headed into the second period in a scoreless tie.

Montreal broke through in the second period. Abby Roque scored at 3:49 of the second, with assists from Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey. Kati Tabin was called for slashing at 6:38 of the second, giving Ottawa a power-play chance, but the Charge could not score. Montreal carried a 1-0 lead into the third period. The goal was the first of two for Roque, and it gave the Victoire the only offense they needed.

The Victoire pulled away in the third. Marie-Philip Poulin was assessed a 2-minute penalty for interference on the goaltender at 8:11 of the third. Roque scored again at 9:58 of the third to make it 2-0. Maggie Flaherty added another goal at 13:54 of the third, with assists from Jessica DiGirolamo and Dara Greig. Lina Ljungblom closed the scoring at 15:44 of the third. Ottawa could not answer, and Desbiens finished with 23 saves. Montreal scored once in the second and three times in the third. Montreal killed all three of its penalties, and Ottawa finished without a goal on its power-play chances.

Ottawa recorded 23 shots on goal, all stopped by Desbiens. Montreal’s four goals came from Roque twice, Flaherty once and Ljungblom once. The Victoire led 1-0 after two periods and scored three times in the final period. Roque’s second goal was unassisted, and Ljungblom’s goal was also unassisted. Ottawa finished with no goals, and Montreal finished with four.

Roque finished with two goals on two shots and two hits. Flaherty had one goal, three shots and two hits. Ljungblom scored once on one shot. Poulin recorded one assist, one shot, two penalty minutes and three hits. Hayley Scamurra had two shots and one hit. Laura Stacey had one assist. Dara Greig had one assist and one hit. Jessica DiGirolamo had one assist. Nicole Gosling recorded one shot.

Interstat’s ELO system had projected Montreal with a 56.3 percent probability to win before the game.