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With just over a month left in the CWHL regular season, the Inferno have a three-point lead for first place over the Boston Blades, which is impressive considering they've also played the fewest games in the league (14). Most of their games have been played three-in-a-row, and this weekend is no exception as they head into Montreal to face the third-place Stars. The first game will be played today at 4 p.m. Mountain time (6 p.m. Eastern) at Desmarteau Rink in Montreal.
What You Should Know:
- These teams haven't played each other since October, when Calgary dropped their home opener 2-1 but took the last two of the series. Since then, the Inferno have been storming their way to the top, while the Stars haven't gotten exactly where they need to be.
- Three of the league's top five scorers belong to Calgary. Rebecca Johnston leads the way on the team with 28 points (10 G/18 A), followed by linemate Haley Irwin with 20 points (8 G/12 A) and Brittany Esposito's 15 points (6 G/9 A).
- Meanwhile, scoring has been an issue for Montreal. Their top scorer, Ann-Sophie Bettez, has seven goals and four assists in 13 games. After that, it's a bit of a sharp downturn (Kim Deschenes is the only one that comes close in goals scored, with five). On the upside, their goaltending is solid -- Charline Labonte has received the bulk of starts in net and, while only at .500, she's posted a .925 save percentage and 1.92 GAA, which places her second in the league (behind Olympic teammate Genevieve Lacasse, who's played nearly 200 fewer minutes).
- As good as this team has been, Boston has been just as good. The Blades took two of three tightly-played games against the Inferno back in December and sit three points back of Calgary in second place. They also play two against Toronto this weekend, so the Inferno need at least five of a possible six points this weekend if Boston sweeps. The Furies managed to pull off a couple of one-goal wins last series, so we'll see how those games go.
Links:
- Recaps: Games 1, 2, and 3 of last weekend
- Notes, including rosters, for tonight's game
- Current league standings
- Today, defenseman Jacquie Pierri has taken over the team's Twitter account to give fans a view of a weekend in the life of an Inferno player. Pierri also has a personal Twitter account; you can find her at @ouiweejacquie.
- Did you know you can stream games via the CWHL's website? For just $10, you'll be able to get up to two games per week for the entire rest of the season. Tomorrow's game will be available via live stream, so jump on it now.