Fresh off her shutout period and a half at the All-Star Game, Christina Kessler was probably full of confidence prior to Sunday's game against the Brampton Thunder. Letting in 4 goals on 7 shots in less than 10 minutes of play was likely not what she was hoping for. The stats sound bad, but it was the Furies defence that got Kessler pulled more than any fault of hers.

January 31, 6-0 Thunder (gamesheet)
The game started well for the Furies. They gained possession immediately, and Natalie Spooner let go a nice shot that was stopped by Thunder goalie Liz Knox.

Unfortunately the period was all downhill from there. The Thunder dominated, never letting the Furies get any sustained offensive zone time, and taking advantage of a number of Furies defensive mistakes.

Jess Jones just makes Jess Vella look silly here, and while there are plenty of Furies blocking Kessler's view, none of them managed to block the puck.

This is a nice pass from Jones, and Candice Styles' backhand is very pretty, but why exactly was she able to get all the way to that spot from outside the blueline with no one noticing her? Kessler was a little slow to react to the pass as well.

Granted this is on a Brampton power play, but again Rebecca Vint comes in uncontested and has plenty of time alone in front of the net to put in her own rebound.

After the third goal (still in the first period), the Furies did push back a little. Spooner made a good attempt to reclaim momentum (i.e. she grabbed the puck and Spoonered her way up the ice) but couldn't score. Vella got a good chance on the powerplay and shot wide. That same powerplay involved several shorthanded chances for the Thunder and no actual Furies shots on goal. What little time the Furies spent in their offensive zone this period, the Thunder usually stuck too close to allow proper chances.

This one was just pretty. It would have been helpful if Tanis Lamoureux got down there a little faster, but otherwise, that drop pass from Courtney Birchard to Laura Fortino, who used her ex-teammate Tara French as a screen... Kessler had no chance. Nonetheless, this was her last stand and Sonja van der Bliek came in for the rest of the game.

Kori Cheverie took a shot to the hand and for some reason decided to stay on the ice even though she couldn't keep both hands on her stick. (Hockey players... definitely not just the guys!)

The last goal of the period, thankfully. It's a seeing-eye shot from Sarah Edney on the point, van der Bliek is facing the right direction but has far too much traffic in front. If Rattray's stick had been on the ice this might not have gone in.

The second period was a much better period for the Furies. They managed to slow the pace of the game down and spend more time in the offensive zone. Knox had to stay sharp on a few chances, with chances from Spooner, Kelly Terry and Emily Fulton, but she stood her ground. Not only was Knox good in her net but she came out to play the puck a few times, depriving the Furies of a couple of rushes.

The third period got off to an aggressive start again courtesy of Spooner and Terry but between Knox's timely saves and the Thunder defense, the Furies couldn't sustain the effort. Generally it was a slow, grinding period until Jamie Lee Rattray's goal (and fourth point of the game) almost halfway through.

This was when the Furies got frustrated and the game became a lot more physical. As is always helpful when the team is down by five with a little less than half of a period to go, Carolyne Prevost lost her temper and was called for body checking, followed shortly thereafter by Bonello and Styles getting into it, leading to over a minute of five on three. There was some confusion about Bonello's two minors (roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct), both who was serving them and how many Furies were allowed on the ice, since one of the minors was coincidental with Styles' penalty for body checking. I could clearly hear repeated yells of "five on three!" on the broadcast from the bench or the crowd before everything was sorted out.

The Furies' PK during this span did spawn a couple of shorthanded chances but they led nowhere.

Perhaps the worst part of the game happened during four on four play here after Prevost's penalty had expired. Shannon Moulson blocked a shot off her ankle. She seemed wobbly but fine until the play was dead, at which point she fell to the ice and couldn't get up again. She was helped off by the trainer, and later was taken from the bench for further medical treatment. One thing the Furies definitely don't need at this point in the season is another injury, especially on their defence corps. Here's hoping she's all right and we'll see her on Saturday.

The Furies tried for a last-stand push but in the end Liz Knox and the Thunder came away with a shutout. Final score 6-0 Brampton

Once again, I found the three stars a little confusing. I don't dispute Knox as the first star for the shutout, or even Jones as the second with four points on the game, including the game winning goal, but Vint as third star with one goal on a night when five other Thunder players had a point each and Rattray had a four point game seems odd to me.

Notes:

It was Olympian day for the Thunder, honouring former players Jayna Hefford, Vicky Sunohara and Kathleen Kauth. The ladies dropped the ceremonial first puck and signed autographs during the first period intermission (and beyond.

The Thunder also had team hockey cards available. Furies? Please?

  • Lamoureux and Gaskin were back in the lineup after almost a month's absence. Gaskin came into the game as the only Furies skater with a +/- above -1. Lamoureux had a couple of nice chances
  • Things I just noticed - we have a D pairing of French and Saunders. Does not seem promising, unless the Furies want to have a BBC comedy series.
  • The Brampton commentator suggested that Michelle Bonello is considering retirement. As Furies captain and their most physical player, losing Bonello could change the whole complexion of the team.
  • Not news but Jamie Lee Rattray is so good you guys.
  • Next weekend is going to be an extra exciting series against the Boston Blades! The Saturday game is going to be in Port Elgin as part of the Hockey Day in Canada festivities and I'll be on the fan bus to and from the event. Sunday has become the Puppy Challenge! Losing team donates $20 plus $10 per goal to the opposing team's Humane Society. Also, there is some talk of Jenelle Kohanchuk being in attendance with her dogs, so actual puppies!/

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