Ann-Renée Desbiens and her Montréal Victoire squad just gave fans a hockey night for the ages. In what turned into a full-blown endurance battle, Montréal snagged their first-ever postseason dub in game two against the Ottawa Charge, and they didn’t just win; they made history while doing it. We’re talking seven whole periods, 135 minutes and 33 seconds of non-stop hustle, and the longest game in PWHL history. This wasn’t just your average overtime grind—this was almost five hours of pure adrenaline, crowd chants, “Desbiens!” echoing through the rink, and “refs you suck” getting louder with every missed call.

Montréal came in hot, flipping the game-one script by dropping two early goals from Kristin O’Neill and Laura Stacey. Ottawa made a last-minute push to force Overtime (OT), but the Victoire weren’t leaving without fireworks. And while Catherine Dubois sealed the deal in the fourth OT with a beauty that ended the marathon, the spotlight stayed glued to Ann-Renée Desbiens. The Victoire goalie stood on her head all night, feeding off the electric crowd, stopping shot after shot like she was powered by something cosmic as she racked up saves like it was nothing, just seven shy of the all-time saves record.

After that marathon of a game, PWHL had to hop on X and drop some serious love for their goalie queen, saying, “The brick wall of Montréal. Yesterday, Ann-Renée Desbiens set the record for most saves in a game with 63!” And honestly? That barely even scratches the surface of what went down. Ann-Renée Desbiens smashed Aerin Frankel’s previous record of 56 saves (ironically made against Victoire last year on May 11), and the Victoire have now played roles in both the longest games in PWHL history. But let’s throw in some old-school NHL spice too.

Ann-Renée Desbiens just tied the OG Gump Worsley from way back in 1971, both sitting at 63 saves, chilling at the No. 5 spot on the all-time saves chart. And who’s still king of the mountain? Ron Tugnutt, of course, 70 saves vs Boston in ’91, rocking a wild .959 save percentage. But best believe, Desbiens is knocking on that door. And the spotlight keeps glowing. Not only did Desbiens snag her first-ever playoff win, but she also gave Montréal their first franchise postseason victory, and she did it like a total beast. We’re talking 63 saves on 65 shots in a historic showdown that had fans gripping their seats through seven dang periods.

Those 65 shots from Ottawa? Most ever in any PWHL game, period. Ann-Renée Desbiens’ answer? Just casually obliterating the previous save record and shutting the door for 75 minutes and 51 seconds after Ottawa tied it with just 42 seconds left in regulation. And if we rewind it back to game one? She was already cooking with 24 stops. Desbiens has racked up 87 saves with a slick-as-ice .946 save percentage, nudging just ahead of Philips’ .944. And oh yeah, she just got crowned star of the week like it was destined from the jump. And guess what? All this came just days after her injury scare!

Ann-Renée Desbiens made a staunch comeback!

Back in March, the vibes were tense and the hockey gods were clearly in a mood. In just one wild week, both of Team Canada’s star goalies found themselves in injury limbo. One of them? Montréal Victoire’s own ice warrior, Ann-Renée Desbiens. She took a scary tumble in the crease mid-game against the Boston Fleet, and it did not look good. With what looked like a knee tweak, Desbiens had to be helped off the ice by her teammates, cue the collective gasp from fans everywhere. Elaine Chuli had to tag in while Desbiens was getting checked out, and the early word was that she wouldn’t be returning to the game.

Fast-forward a bit, and plot twist, Desbiens is back. Yup, the Montréal Victoire announced just this past Thursday that they’ve officially pulled her off the long-term injured reserve list, retroactive to March 18. That’s when she got hurt, but now? She’s back between the pipes like she never left. And not just back, better. The 31-year-old has been repping Canada at the IIHF World Championship and still casually leads the league in all the goaltending glory stats. You name it; 13 wins, 1.85 GAA, and that icy .932 save percentage.

But wait, hold that stat sheet, because after her jaw-dropping, 63-save performance in that overtime epic, her save percentage has shot up to a glistening .946. Like, excuse us? That’s not just bouncing back, that’s a full-on rise-from-the-ashes kind of comeback.