Going into Sunday’s games, the Markham Thunder were looking to complete a sweep against the Boston Blades, and the Toronto Furies were hoping to keep les Canadiennes de Montréal from sweeping them. With a 4-2 win over the Blades, the Thunder came out of the weekend with two wins and four points, but the other GTA team was less successful. Despite playing to a draw through the first two periods, a five-goal third period by les Canadiennes sank the Furies, 7-3.

Markham Thunder vs. Boston Blades

Erica Howe got the start today for the Thunder, with Liz Knox having started last night, while the Blades sent out Lauren Dahm for her second start of the weekend. The Thunder were still missing Nicole Kosta, Laura McIntosh, Alexis Woloschuk, and Jenna McParland, all of whom were also scratched Saturday.

Boston opened the scoring about six minutes into the first, with rookie Michelle Ng scoring her third goal of the season. Ng’s been a welcome boost to the Blades’ offense—their sole goal last night came off her rebound—and for the first time this weekend, the Blades had the lead.

It did not last long. Two consecutive hooking calls, on Meaghan Spurling and Dru Burns, led to two power play goals for Markham. Kristen Barbara scored the first about two minutes after Ng’s goal, and then Taylor Woods put one in late in the period to give Markham the lead.

With 16 seconds remaining in the first period, Devon Skeats took a body-checking penalty. Less than a minute into the second Boston tied up the game, with defender Jordan Hampton scoring her first CWHL goal. Despite four more minor penalties this period—two for Boston, two for Markham—the second period would end tied 2-2.

In the third period, Markham’s Melissa Wronzberg and Lindsay Grigg took penalties within fifteen seconds of each other, but Boston was unable to capitalize on the 5-on-3. Shortly thereafter, Burns was called for slashing, and Woods went on to score her second power-play goal of the game. Jamie Lee Rattray would pot the empty netter with eight seconds left, and Markham won the game, 4-2.

Three Stars:

3rd: Kristen Richards, Markham (2a)

2nd: Meghan Grieves, Boston (2a)

1st: Taylor Woods, Markham (2g)

Toronto Furies vs. Les Canadiennes de Montréal

This afternoon was les Canadiennes’ banner-raising for their Clarkson Cup championship last year. They had members of all of their Clarkson Cup championship teams on the ice for the pregame ceremony, including the littlest Clarkson Cup champion, Liv Chu-Ouellette (seen in the picture above, chilling out in mom Julie Chu’s arms).

For the second day in a row, Amanda Makela got the start for Toronto, with Catherine Herron in net for Montréal. The Furies also iced five defenders, with Brooke Beazer—usually a forward—filling in as the fifth player on defense. Jessica O’Grady, Carlee Campbell, and Ella Stewart were all scratched again.

Michelle Saunders and Brittany Zuback were also missing from the Furies’ lineup. Both Saunders and Zuback were assessed game misconducts yesterday—Saunders for punching Noémie Marin in the face, and Zuback for spearing—and I think it’s safe to assume sitting them this game was further punishment for, frankly, some dumb nonsense. This left the Furies with nine forwards and five defenders (counting Beazer as a defender), which is really not a lineup you want to roll when meeting the defending Clarkson Cup champions.

In a sharp contrast to yesterday’s game, Toronto opened the scoring with a goal from Cassidy Delainey. Les Canadiennes answered back, first with a power-play goal from Marin after Carolyne Prévost was called for body-checking, and then less than thirty seconds later Jordanna Peroff made it 2-1.

It stayed that way until halfway through the second period, when Prévost tied the game up for Toronto. Towards the end of the second, some of the rough stuff from yesterday cropped up again--Kim Deschênes and Cassandra Poudrier were called for holding and cross-checking, respectively, at the same time Jenna Dingeldein was sent off for roughing. Nothing came of the resulting Toronto power play, and the second wrapped up with the teams still tied, 2-2.

In the third, after Shannon Moulson was called for tripping, French national team player Marion Allemoz scored to put les Canadiennes back on top. Marin would extend their lead to 4-2 shortly thereafter with her second goal of the game. Katia Clement-Heydra piled on another one after Beazer went to the box for roughing. Dingeldein brought the score to 5-3 with about five minutes remaining, but it wasn’t enough. Marin completed the hat trick with under a minute to go, and then nine seconds later, Sarah Lefort made it 7-3 Montréal.

Three Stars:

3rd: Katie Gaskin, Toronto (2a)

2nd: Cassandra Poudrier, Montréal (1a)

1st: Noémie Marin, Montréal (3g)

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)