Stars crush Inferno's hopes of weekend sweep with lopsided win

After failing to make good on a few scoring chances and getting burned by some of Calgary's most dangerous scorers, the Stars came back in full force to win 5-2 Sunday on their home ice.

Noemie Marin scored twice, Caroline Ouellette carried over her excellent play from Saturday to score a goal, and Cathy Chartrand and Julie Chu each ended up with a pair of assists as Montreal swarmed the Inferno out of the gate, building up a steady 3-0 lead over a period and a half of play on goals by Emilie Bocchia, Ouellette, and Marin.

Tegan Schroeder got Calgary on the board six minutes into the second period. From that point on the Inferno were back to their usual selves, peppering Charline Labonte, but she held firm, stopping the next six shots she faced.

Stars alternate captain Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux capitalized on a mistake by rookie goaltender Camille Trautman in the third period, and a power-play tally by Marin sealed any hope of a comeback for the Inferno. Erika Kromm scored a late-game goal for pride's sake to make it 5-2.

Labonte finished with 19 saves, while Trautman made 16 stops.

Tomorrow the Inferno wrap up the weekend against Montreal, and they do it with a little bit more on the line. Boston swept its weekend against Toronto by scores of 7-0 and 4-0 respectively, and the Blades now sit just one point back of Calgary for first place in the league. The Inferno have to win tomorrow to try and pull away once more, but that'll be easier said than done. Puck drop is at 9 a.m. Mountain time (11 a.m. Eastern time) at Arena Etienne-Desmarteau.

• The Inferno apparently have multiple players out or doubtful for tomorrow's game, including forward Jenna Cunningham (who has work obligations -- oh yeah, did I mention these players don't get paid and thus have full-time jobs on top of playing hockey?). Love the hashtag #honeybadgers, by the way.
• Jessica Wong struggled this game, posting a -3 after earning two assists and an almost-goal (that got discounted) on Saturday. Tough to see.
• Here's the official recap from last night's game via the team's website, including the three stars (Labonte, Brian, Campbell)
• There is no live stream of tomorrow's game, but the live stat updates are up for every game this season, and tomorrow's no exception. You can access it about ten minutes before puck drop via cwhl.ca.