MONTREAL — After a 24-hour delay due to an illness on the team, the Montreal Victoire punched their ticket to the PWHL’s Walter Cup Finals with a 2-1 win against the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday night.

With the fifth and deciding game of the semifinal series finally underway, Minnesota came out flying with yet another quick start, pinning Montreal into its own zone for most of the opening 10 minutes; the Victoire didn’t officially register a shot on goal until the eight-minute mark.

Still, Ann-Renée Desbiens held her ground — pulling a puck right off the goal line on one save — and kept Minnesota scoreless, despite the Frost’s 9-1 advantage in shots midway through the first period. That early game performance by Desbiens allowed Montreal to take the first lead of the game when Catherine Dubois fired a shot above Maddie Rooney’s outreached stick 12:18 into the opening frame.

Midway through the second period, Minnesota forward Samantha Cogan tied the game 1-1 to set up a winner-takes-all third period, where none other than Marie-Philip Poulin scored the game-winner to capture Montreal’s first-ever playoff series win.

Desbiens made 25 saves on 26 shots to seal the victory in her best game of the postseason so far.

The Victoire will now move on to play the Ottawa Charge in a best-of-five series for the league’s Water Cup championship.

The loss — Minnesota’s first when facing elimination — marked an early end for the Frost, which won back-to-back championships in the league’s first two seasons.

Dubois makes an impact

Ahead of the game, Montreal coach Kori Cheverie made one major adjustment to her lineup: moving Dubois, a versatile depth forward, onto the top line beside Poulin and Laura Stacey.

While Minnesota had most of the offensive zone time in the first period, it still took less than 13 minutes for the move to pay off. On a set play, Poulin — who was lined up against Kelly Pannek, one of the premier faceoff centers in the game — won the offensive zone faceoff clean, snapping the puck back to an awaiting Dubois, who fired the puck above Rooney.

A goal that big coming from Dubois shouldn’t be a surprise. In the 2024 postseason, Dubois scored the game-winner in Montreal’s quadruple overtime marathon — and the longest game in PWHL history — against Boston. And this season, when Poulin missed time due to injury, it was Dubois who moved up to the top line with Stacey and Abby Roque, scoring four goals to help lead Montreal in their captain’s absence.

Poulin is clutch again

Whatever is going on with Poulin’s leg, it did not stop her from scoring another huge goal in the biggest game of her PWHL career.

Montreal’s captain missed 10 games after the Olympics with a lower-body injury and refused to bite on a question about how healthy she felt heading into the postseason.

“The heart, the mind is there,” she said. “So I’m going to do anything possible to play my game.”

That game has been the very best in women’s hockey for over a decade, and defined by clutch moment after clutch moment. It’s been clear throughout the series that Poulin is not 100 percent. At times, she’s been shown wincing on the bench. After Poulin scored the triple-overtime winner in Game 3, Stacey gave Poulin the team’s player of the game hat, saying Poulin “has battled really (expletive) hard to be able to even be on that ice with us.”

None of that seemed to matter, though, when Poulin scored her second game-winning goal of the series.

An unusual postponement

It’s incredibly rare for a playoff game in professional sports to be postponed. Outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams have typically played through illnesses — with a short bench or using emergency call-ups — in both the regular season and playoffs.

That’s part of what made the PWHL’s postponement of Game 5 so shocking. According to a league statement, “The decision was made following consultation with medical personnel and in accordance with the league’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of players, fans, staff and all those involved in the competition.”

Then came the announcement, mere hours after the postponement, that the game would be played Tuesday night. A league spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic that the guidance from medical professionals was that play could resume Tuesday. According to CBC’s Karissa Donkin, no additional players were sick as of Tuesday morning.

“No new symptoms have been identified since the postponement decision was made, and those who previously experienced symptoms are continuing to improve,” PWHL spokesperson Paul Krotz said on Tuesday. “In addition, enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures were enacted across team environments as an added precaution.”

The league did not specify the nature of the illness — other than to say the symptoms aren’t consistent with hantavirus — nor did it reveal how many players were sick. According to a source briefed on the situation, the illness was contained to the Victoire, with nobody on the Frost sick as of Monday evening.

By puck drop on Tuesday, all 23 regular skaters were in the Victoire lineup.

This story will be updated.

MONTREAL — Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff didn’t have a lot to say before Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens.

After the Sabres completed their morning skate at Bell Centre, Ruff refused to confirm lineup changes and was blunt in answering questions. He’d spent the previous day talking and hearing about how heavily the Sabres had been outplayed in a 6-2 Game 3 loss. Even though the Sabres were down only 2-1 in the series, there was a sense of desperation heading into Game 4.

When asked about the mood of his team, Ruff said: “The mood is awesome. We’ve been challenged all year long. It’s another challenge. We know we haven’t played our best game, and we know we need to play our best tonight.”

It wasn’t perfect, but the Sabres played a much cleaner game and came away with a 3-2 win on a third-period power-play goal from forward Zach Benson. The series will now head back to Buffalo tied 2-2 with Game 5 on Thursday night at KeyBank Center.

The Sabres were all over the Canadiens early in this game. They scored on a crisp passing play when Josh Doan took a hit to get the puck to Josh Norris. Norris then slid it to defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who scored to make the score 1-0. By the first TV timeout, the Sabres had an 8-1 advantage in shots. They also thought they had a 2-0 lead. After Konsta Helenius drove the net and put a backhand attempt off Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobeš, Jack Quinn grabbed the rebound and lifted it into the goalie’s glove. Officials looked at the play and ruled the puck crossed the goal line while in Dobeš’ glove. But Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis challenged for goalie interference, and the situation room ruled that Helenius made contact with Dobeš’ stick, preventing him from making a play on the puck.

Instead of being down 2-0, the Canadiens got a chance to regroup during the lengthy reviews and heard their home crowd get back into the game. A little over two minutes later, Montreal forward Alex Newhook scored to tie it 1-1. The Canadiens got a power-play goal from Cole Caufield late in the first period to take a 2-1 lead despite Buffalo’s strong start.

Sabres center Tage Thompson tied the score in the second period when he dumped a puck off the corner boards and it bounced out front, off Dobeš and into the net. That set the stage for a dramatic third period. Benson’s goal came less than five minutes into the period, and the Canadiens had a strong push throughout the third. But the Sabres managed to hang on to get the series back to Buffalo at two games apiece.

With the loss, the Canadiens handed home-ice advantage in the series back to the Sabres, which was reminiscent of their failure to take hold of their previous series against the Lightning. In that series, they had an opportunity to go up 2-0 on the road, 3-1 at home and to close out the series in Game 6 at home. They lost all three games. Now, they can add this Game 4 loss to the Sabres to that list of missed playoff opportunities.

The Canadiens did not play poorly, and they carried the bulk of the play in the third period as they tried to tie it up, but as they travel to Buffalo for Game 5, it will be difficult for them to avoid the feeling that they could have been in a much better position than they find themselves in now.

Here’s what we saw in Game 4:

Sabres’ lack of discipline

Pretty much the last thing any team wants to do is give Montreal’s dangerous power play extra opportunities.

So, it goes without saying that the Sabres’ lack of discipline Tuesday night was absolutely brutal.

And the guys taking the penalties, captain Rasmus Dahlin (a pair of penalties), Jason Zucker, Thompson, Bowen Byram (two penalties, including a four-minute double minor), those guys should know better.

Thompson’s cross-checking penalty on Kaiden Guhle late in the first period could perhaps be seen as a soft call, but why did Thompson even put himself in that position to begin with? Why was he looking to make contact on that play, 200 feet from his end, when Guhle doesn’t have the puck?

The result was a power-play goal from Caufield.

On the flip side, credit to Buffalo’s penalty kill. Sure, the Habs got their looks, and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was probably their best penalty killer at times with some key saves. But no matter how you spin it, the Sabres limited the damage to one power-play goal against and were especially impressive killing off Byram’s four-minute double minor.

Still, the Sabres cannot be taking these penalties. It’s a recipe for disaster against Montreal. And it shows a lack of composure. — Pierre LeBrun, NHL senior columnist

Missed opportunities

The Canadiens did get a power-play goal from Caufield, but going 1-for-7 for the game was not good enough.

Byram’s double minor for needlessly high-sticking Alexandre Texier at 18:31 of the second period with the score tied 2-2 was a golden opportunity to take control of the game, and they squandered it.

The Canadiens bobbled some pucks and did not generate nearly enough shot volume on the four-minute power play, which was emblematic of many of the other man-advantage situations the Sabres continued handing them.

The Sabres seemed intent on giving the game to the Canadiens. The Canadiens were simply unable to accept the gift. — Arpon Basu, Canadiens writer

Thompson gets a fluky goal

Thompson’s second-period goal to tie the score 2-2 was a wacky one. With the Sabres on the power play, Thompson had the puck near center ice and ripped it into the corner. The puck bounced off the Zamboni door and shot directly out front, where it hit Dobeš and went in.

Both Thompson and the Sabres’ power play have struggled in this series, and that was a bounce they badly needed. After having a goal overturned earlier in the game due to a goaltender interference call, the Sabres got some puck luck to go their way. Buffalo otherwise didn’t generate many chances on what was a four-minute power play, but Thompson’s goal got them back even.

That corner of the Bell Centre is notorious for bounces like that, with the Zamboni door regularly bouncing pucks toward the middle of the ice. Dobeš probably should have known that. After Luukkonen allowed a goal on a bouncing puck from center ice against the Bruins in Round 1, the hockey gods evened things out for the Sabres. — Matthew Fairburn, Sabres writer

Sabres lineup changes pay off

The Sabres made three lineup changes ahead of this game. Luukkonen took over the net, rookie forward Helenius made his playoff debut on the third line and veteran defenseman Luke Schenn took over for Logan Stanley on the third pair.

All three moves paid off. Luukkonen made some massive saves in this game, especially with the Sabres playing on the penalty kill so often. At one point in the second period, Luukkonen made consecutive cross-ice saves on Caufield to keep the score 2-1.

By the end of the second period, Helenius had two shots on goal and was 4-for-4 in the faceoff circle. He also would have had an assist on the goal that was overturned. Schenn played a limited role but got almost three minutes of short-handed ice time and was steady.

Earlier in the series, Ruff put Benson onto the top power-play unit, and that paid off with Benson’s third-period power-play goal. The Sabres needed some in-series adjustments and got the right ones. — Fairburn

UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close will be with the program through at least the 2029-30 season after signing a contract extension.

The Bruins, fresh off their first women’s NCAA national championship (they also won a title in 1978 under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women), announced the extension in a statement Tuesday. The school did not disclose the deal’s financial details.

“We are extremely proud of what Cori has accomplished in leading our young women,” athletic director Martin Jarmond said. “Winning a national championship is a tremendous achievement, but what truly stands out with Cori is the character, leadership and daily commitment she and her staff bring to help developing her players into the best versions of themselves. We are very fortunate to have Cori leading this program, and we couldn’t be more excited about the future of this team.”

Close has coached UCLA since 2011 and built a 358-144 record at the program’s helm, becoming the first UCLA women’s basketball coach to pass 300 wins.

Under Close, the Bruins have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the Final Four twice, including their championship run last season. It all culminated in the Bruins’ 79-51 win over South Carolina in the national title game.

The last two seasons earned Close back-to-back honors as the nation’s best women’s basketball coach by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, adding to a list of accolades that includes a sweep of the Associated Press, Naismith and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year awards in 2024-25. She also took home last year’s Big Ten Coach of the Year award after winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2019.

“I love being here in Westwood, and I am so excited for what the future holds,” Close said in a statement released by UCLA. “… It fills me with such joy to share this with our village, and I hope we can continue to make our Bruin faithful proud.”

Six UCLA players were selected in last month’s WNBA Draft, including five picked in the first round. Both are records, breaking marks set by UConn in 2002, when it had four players drafted in the first round.

The Washington Mystics selected center Lauren Betts at No. 4, the Chicago Sky took guard Gabriela Jaquez at No. 5 and the expansion Toronto Tempo selected Kiki Rice at No. 6. Angela Dugalić went at No. 9, also to the Mystics, and the Connecticut Sun picked Gianna Kneepkens at No. 15. Charlisse Leger-Walker rounded out the UCLA draftees at No. 19, also heading to the Sun.