Canadiennes burn Inferno to capture Clarkson Cup
OTTAWA — The sting from a year earlier was still very much with Les Canadiennes de Montreal on Sunday.
When they took the ice to face the Calgary Inferno for the Clarkson Cup at Canadian Tire Centre, the 8-3 loss they suffered to the same team, in the same championship game, was fresh on their minds.
“Yes, it was there,” Canadiennes captain Marie-Philip Poulin said, with a growing grin, when asked about the revenge factor. “I think it’s been 365 days that we’ve been waiting for that game. We were really ready.”
From the opening faceoff the Canadiennes took control, and only loosened their grip while trying to protect a third period lead.
In the end they claimed a 3-1 win.
“It’s pretty special, to be honest, with the group that we had,” said Poulin, who lived up to her billing as the best player in women’s hockey by scoring two goals, including an empty-netter with 1:52 left on the clock that she referred to as “a breather, a good breath” of relief.
“Having the chance to play with your best friends … it’s my second family. When you play as a team good things happen for sure.”
Katia Clement-Heydra had the other Canadiennes goal while Jill Saulnier scored Calgary’s goal, with just over seven minutes left in the third, to provide some hope.
While the Canadiennes are now 4-3 in Clarkson Cup finals, the defending champion Inferno have now won one and lost one.
“I think we came out a little flat in the first and just took too long to get things going,” said Calgary captain Brianne Jenner. “I believe we had a chance at the end. We thought we had the momentum but, sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
Poulin had the lone goal of the second period at the 5:24 mark with a shot that fooled Calgary goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. “Poulin does a really good job of shooting through the ‘D’,” said Maschmeyer. “She kind of used the ‘D’ as a screen, and I lost it a little bit through the legs of my ‘D’. Thought I had it but it trickled in.”
Maschmeyer admitted to feeling nervousness when learning that she would get the start.
“I feel like if you don’t have nerves, you don’t care. So of course there’s nerves behind a big game. But you can’t treat it any different than another game. I was excited to get the start for sure. It was an honour.”