The Montreal Victory saw its winning streak end at six games as it suffered a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Frost in front of 6,696 spectators Tuesday night at Place Bell.
This defeat is the first for the Montreal team since January 12, when it lost 4-2 against the Frost in a game played in Denver.
Montreal suffered its first shutout in its history at home.
Liz Schepers in the first period, Kendall Coyne Schofield in the second period and Denisa Krizova in the third period beat Elaine Chuli, who stopped 24 shots and has nothing to reproach herself for.
Krizova added an empty-net goal with about 20 seconds left.
The Victory players were limited to 21 shots on Maddie Rooney.
The Victory will play its next game on Saturday, February 22, in Ottawa, against the Charge.
Low energy play
One team came onto the ice with a six-game winning streak; the other came in after losing three games in a row. It was the latter that struck first, late in a first period that didn't offer anything too exciting.
With 77 seconds left on the clock, Schepers, from the middle of the slot, deflected a shot from defender Claire Thompson past Chuli, who could do nothing about it.
Although she was less busy than Rooney, it was Chuli who made the best saves of the first period, including one against Schepers with just under five minutes to go and then against Grace Zumwinkle about a minute later.
Between those two opportunities, Dara Greig squandered Victory's best scoring chance of the first 20 minutes. On a two-on-one push, Greig received a pass from Laura Stacey, but her backhand shot missed the target.
The one-goal deficit they faced after 20 minutes did not provoke a minimum sense of urgency at the start of the second period among Kori Cheverie's players.
Limited to two shots during the first half of the engagement, the Victoire saw the Frost double its lead thanks to another deflection, this one by Coyne Schofield, who tipped a wrist shot from the blue line by Sophie Jaques, at 10:43.
The Victory players' inertia continued in the second half of the period, during which they added only one shot, bringing their total to just 12 after 40 minutes of play.
Victory had a chance to get back into the game midway through the third period following a minor penalty on Maggie Flaherty, but again the power play didn't generate anything too threatening.
With just over five minutes to go, Krizova, completely forgotten in front of the net, put the final nail in Montreal's coffin by deflecting a pass from Dominique Petrie.
Minnesota snaps three-game losing streak.
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