CWHL Weekend Round Up: Calgary Sweeps Toronto, Montreal Torch Boston
Inferno earn weekend sweep of Toronto Furies (Tracy/@itstracy19)
CALGARY - The defending Clarkson Cup champions are off to a hot start this season earning two hard fought overtime victories over the Toronto Furies this weekend to improve to 6-0-0-0.
In game one, the Furies took an early first period lead when Jenelle Kohanchuck snuck one past Delayne Brian six minutes into the game. Toronto held the CWHLs second best offense in check during the first period, shutting out the Inferno on 12 shots and two power play opportunities.
However the second period belonged to Calgary. Bailey Bram got the Inferno on the board with a short handed goal just 1:39 into the frame. Calgary picked up it's offense outshooting the Furies 13-6 in the period and with just over five minutes remaining Brigette Lacquette scored her first goal of the season to give the Inferno a 2-1 lead.
Toronto was outshot in the first two periods, 25-13, so going into the third they needed to put more shots on net. The Furies played their best period of the game consistently applying pressure on the forecheck and creating turnovers. Michela Cava capitalized on a power play midway through the third to level the score at 2. After a scoreless 10 minutes the fans were rewarded with some free hockey.
After four minutes of back and forth hockey, Blayre Turnbull connected with Haley Irwin who buried home the game winning goal to give the Inferno a 3-2 overtime victory.
Game two in Calgary looked very similar to game one, Toronto took a 1-0 first period lead into the locker room. That was in large part to the Inferno inability to stay out of the penalty box. Julie Allen scored on the power play to give the Furies the lead but Louise Warren's misconduct and Jill Saulnier's hooking kept the Inferno shorthanded for a majority of the first period.
After a scoreless second period, where Toronto held a 20-17 lead in shots the Inferno needed to mount a comeback. Calgary would get their break when Renata Fast was sent off for her second penalty of the period. On the last rush with the advantage, Brittany Esposito found the stick of Jessica Campbell who scored with two seconds left on the power play.
Again the teams would go into overtime and again it would be the Inferno claiming the deciding goal. Brianne Jenner scored her second goal of the season 2:17 into the overtime to kept Calgary unbeaten on the young season.
Calgary improves to 6-0-0-0.
Les Canadiennes score 17 goals in sweep of Boston Blades (@LesCanadiennes/Twitter)
Finals: Montreal 11-0, 6-2
MONTREAL - Marie-Philip Poulin was determined to give Les Canadiennes de Montreal a big win over the Boston Blades this weekend. The two teams heading in opposite directions coming off of the Four Nations break met for two games in Montreal.
Poulin tallied two first period goals and finished the contest with a hat trick and a pair of assists in an 11-0 demolition of the Blades in game one on Saturday night. Ann-Sophie Bettez started the scoring with a quick strike 15 seconds into the first period and Julie Chu scored her first goal of the season to close out a 4-0 period for Les Canadiennes.
The Blades struggled to find there offense only forcing 11 saves from Charline Labonte on the night. The Boston defense allowed 7 goals on 31 shots in 27 minutes of play before Lauren Dahm was pulled from net for newly acquired, Jetta Rackleff. The defense buckled down a bit but the Montreal offense was already rolling. Rackleff would let up four more goals before the final buzzer sounded with Montreal claiming the 11-0 shutout victory.
In game two the Blades looked for some redemption after being embarrassed on the ice the night before. Boston looked like a completely different team on Sunday both offensively and defensively the team competed with one of the leagues best offenses.
Poulin started the scoring midway through the first with a shorthanded goal, her seventh on the season. Although Boston was outshot in the period 18-9 the last shot by the Blades was a goal by Kate Leary with 5 seconds remaining.
The second was an exciting period to watch, Boston took the lead when Kristina Brown scored her first goal of the season to give the Blades a 2-1 lead 4:31 into the period. Montreal began to pick up the pace after the Boston goal and 10 minutes later, Caroline Ouellette evened the game at 2 off a fantastic assist from Katia Clement-Heydra. Les Canadiennes outshot the Blades 23-8 in the second putting a lot of pressure on Dahm to make some big saves.
The third started and just four minutes in, Poulin scored her eighth goal of the season and fifth of the series against Boston to put Les Canadiennes up 3-2. Boston played great defense minus that goal for the first 10 minutes of the period, Dahm again would be called upon to bail out the defense on numerous occasions. Fatigue settled in the last 10 minutes where Montreal opened up the scoring. Ouellette netted two goals and Noemie Marin added the other to earn Les Canadiennes a weekend sweep of the Blades.
