Brampton, Montreal Sweep Weekend In CWHL.
Brampton wins in OT on Saturday Night (BramptonThunder/Twitter)
Weekend Recap
As we near the end of the CWHL season, wins become more important, overtime points even more crucial, and losses major setbacks. This weekend the Brampton Thunder hosted the 1st place Calgary Inferno, while the 3rd place Les Canadiennes de Montreal traveled to visit the Toronto Furies. Both matchups have serious Clarkson Cup playoff implications so how would they fair this weekend?
Les Canadiennes v. Furies (Montreal D. Toronto 5-1, 3-1)
In game one, the Canadiennes came out firing on all cylinders, putting shots on Christina Kessler early and often. Kessler would do her part to keep the furies in the game but a strike by Lauriane Rougeau would give Montreal a 1-0 in the 1st. Toronto has played well lately but have come out on the short end of the scoreboard at the end of games. Alyssa Baldin has been one of the go to players for the Furies; she would find the back of the net late in the period to stay it up for Toronto. The Canadiennes would outshoot the Furies 11-5 but the game remained tied at 1 going into the 2nd.
The 2nd began with Les Canadiennes again peppering shots on Kessler, but Toronto would counter with chances of their own. The game got physical in the frame and saw four penalties, two by each team. Early in the period, Ann-Sophie Bettez, on a power play, got the feed from Marie-Philip Poulin and would bury it home past Kessler to give Montreal the lead again. After the score the Furies upped the physicality and played a better 10 minutes. That was, until Poulin found Emmanuelle Blais to put the Canadiennes up by two goals in the 2nd period. Although the Furies would play a better period the Canadiennes converted on their quality chances. Toronto outshot Montreal 10-9 in the frame. The 3rd began as every period seems to for Montreal, rested and ready to attack as soon as they hit the ice. Natalie Spooner was shut down by the Canadiennes defense and could not find the back of the net in this one. Kim Deschenes and Katia Clement-Heydra will convert for 3rd period goals to give Montreal a 5-1 lead. Les Canadiennes needed this win with Brampton playing well lately, but Toronto is sitting in the four spot with Boston still in the race with only two points on one win.
GAME TWO
The game was a lot more intense than the one on Saturday night, as we saw both teams play a tremendous first period. The Furies, probably upset at the chances they let go to waste the night before were ready to play against this tough Montreal bunch. Toronto would draw two early penalties on Les Canadiennes but could not capitalize on the power play. Late in the first, Montreal would also get two special team opportunities but Kessler did not let up in net. The period ended scoreless and both teams would have a lot to clean up going into the 2nd period.
Again the physical play continued and for the fourth straight game, the Furies could not capitalize on the advantage, but Spooner would get a short-handed chance and send it past Charline Labonte. The Furies held the lead for a short moment, playing well throughout the first half of the game the defense began to break down and Kessler could only do so much. Mid way through the 2nd Bettez would sink one past Kessler and tie the game at 1. Only 33 second later, Deschenes received a pass from Bettez and sneak it past Kessler to give Montreal a 2-1 advantage. Late in the period, some chaos ensued and Les Canadiennes would be give three roughing minor, but yet again Toronto could not take advantage of the penalties.
The teams would battle and continuously find great chances in the attacking zone. The 3rd began with Montreal up 2-1, and controlling moment through the start of the period. Toronto would get the offense going Spooner and French saw some great opportunities saved or blocked by Labonte. Again more penalties would keep both teams from staying at even strength most of the game. Toronto would finish 0-9 on the power play while Montreal would be 0-7. The Furies kept the game close but an empty net goal by Clement-Heydra would put a dagger in this one. Les Canadiennes moved two points behind Calgary after the sweep over Toronto, good enough for 2nd place in the CWHL standings.
Inferno v. Thunder (Brampton D. Calgary 4-3OT, 8-7SO)
On Saturday night the Brampton Thunder welcomed in the first place Calgary Inferno. The Thunder has battled with Les Canadiennes de Montreal for playoff seeding in the last month or so and coming towards the end, home ice advantage is up for grabs. Brampton and Calgary have played well lately and this matchup was the one to watch between the two going on this weekend. Calgary looked stagnant on offense and it showed when Jenna Cunningham was called for a crosschecking penalty 6:04 into the first. Brampton would get chances and Candice Styles would find the puck and put it past Delayne Brian to give the Thunder a 1-0 1st period lead. Following the goal Calgary had resurgence in their offense putting 6 of 8 1st period shots on net in the last 10 minutes. The score remained 1-0 going into the first intermission.
The Inferno, after being outshot 11-8, came out in the 2nd like the first place team in the league. They would generate great offense opportunities and convert on one just 2 minutes into the period when Cunningham would convert on a pass by Kristen Hagg to tie the game at 1. The Inferno continued to place the offense in the attacking zone and kept Brampton on their heels in the period. Jill Saulnier gathered a pass from Bailey Bram a snuck it past Erica Howe to give the Inferno their first lead of the game. The game slowed down a bit after that second goal for Calgary and that played into the Thunders game plan. Quickly Kristen Richards scored a few minutes later to tie the game at 2. The Thunder continued to pursue the puck and generated another great opportunity with less than a minute left in the period. Rebecca Vint and Jocelyne Larocque would go in on Brain and Vint would bury it past the Inferno goaltender to give Brampton a 3-2 lead going into the 3rd.
As play resumed in the 3rd, the Thunder holding a 3-2 lead you could see the eagerness on the ice for the Inferno to get back in the game. Calgary trailed by one both in shots (21-20) and in goals (3-2) but would play their best period of the game in the third. Calgary would find themselves on the advantage four times in the frame, two of which came in the 3rd period. The Inferno would not capitalize on the chances but midway through the final period, Brigitte Lacquette found the back of the net when Hayleigh Cudmore found her for the equalizer.
To overtime we go!! After playing their best period of the game, Calgary looked poised to win this one but at the very least would leave with a point. The Thunder would not be outdone, Candice Styles scored the first in the game and she put it away with the last in overtime. Just under 2 minutes into the overtime period, Styles would get the feed from Laura Fortino and win it in dramatic fashion for Brampton.
GAME TWO – Did I say dramatic?
If game one was not intense enough for the Brampton and Calgary fans, or… well any hockey fan for that matter, Sunday afternoon did not disappoint. 4-3 Overtime win always has to be fun but how do you out do yourself of you are Brampton well trail in a high scoring affair then comeback to win in a shootout… yea! Here’s what happened.
Calgary looked like the #1 team in the CWHL, the team came out firing shots on net, working through the Brampton defense. Just 28 seconds into the game, the Inferno’s Lacquette found Saulnier cutting unmarked through the slot. Brampton picked up the defense and fought back later in the period. Jenna McParland, on the power play found the back of the net to tie the game for the Thunder. Delayne Brian played very well in net, shutting down the Thunders scoring opportunities. Calgary would add two first period goals and take a 3-1 lead going into the 2nd period. Erica Howe struggled statistically, but the defense for Brampton also looked fatigued. Brianne Jenner and Jenna Cunningham scored the two goals for the Inferno.
The 2nd began with another quick strike by the Inferno, as Jill Saulnier broke out and beat Howe to give a 4-1 lead to Calgary. It looked like the Inferno were about to run away with this match up in explosive fashion. Howe was pulled for Liz Knox and Calgary was peppering the net with shots. A short time later Brittany Esposito scored a power play goal when Cunningham and Lacquette combined to then find her open for the score. It quickly became 5-1, for the Inferno but something sunk in for the Thunder. A few moments after the score, Jamie Lee Rattray tried to provide some offense for Brampton and would by scoring and cutting the deficit to 5-2. During the advantage just 40 seconds later Brampton would find the back of the net again as Courtney Birchard would get the crowd excited with the emphatic celly. 5-3 and it looks like the Thunder are poised for another comeback, but Elana Lovell did not receive the memo and capitalized on a neutral ice turnover. Lovells score gave Calgary a three goal lead just 5:51 into the 2nd period. Resilience is a theme for this Brampton team, doesn’t matter how many times they trail this team battles to the last whistle. Just past the midway point in the second Becca King took the power play chance and scored to provide another offense spark for the Thunder. Great defense by both teams kept the score at 6-4 until King with 1:15 remaining would connect with Rattray for her 2nd goal of the game and to bring the Thunder within one. A 6-5 score and we go to the 3rd.
For the third straight period Calgary would start with momentum, they battled and fought for the loose pucks, and continued to put shots on net. The Inferno would get a strike to put them back atop by two when Lacquette put it past Knox. Yet again the Thunder would get their feet under them and battle back. Midway through the period Laura Fortino capitalized on a chance on Kathy Dejardins who replaced Brian. A one-goal score again got the Brampton crowd to their feet, Calgary would get more chances but Knox would stuff each opportunity. Late in the period Fortino would break out again with the offense and score to tie the game at 7-7 with less than 3 minutes left.
Yet Again…. We go to overtime!! Both teams battled and Calgary held the advantage in shots. Brampton who won it in OT Saturday night could not muster a good opportunity in OT. After a scoreless overtime, the teams would go to a shootout. Head coach for the Thunder, Tyler Fines must’ve stressed the importance of these points as Brampton would take the win in the shootout and sweep the first place Calgary Inferno. 8-7 Final from Brampton and the Thunder move into a tie for second place only two points behind Calgary.
The Thunder would fight back to sweep the Inferno in back-to-back overtime games. Les Canadiennes swept Toronto by a combined score of 8-2... The CWHL season will come down to the wire as it usually does. Watch out for Brampton they will be dangerous in the playoffs. Les Canadiennes have been strong all season long and have the least amount of games played so watch them make a leap at some point as well.
Follow Luis Sanchez on Twitter @Luis_MyW
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