Inferno: Weekend Wrap

When we last checked in with the CWHL Calgary Inferno, they had split a weekend series with rival Les Canadiennes de Montreal to not only have clinched a Clarkson Cups playoff spot, but also home ice advantage throughout! The Inferno then headed back to home Calgarian confines this weekend to host the last-place Worcester Blades. Due to severe weather over the weekend, the Blades were late departing Massachusetts and thus the Saturday game of the weekend was cancelled. This meant the Sunday game would be worth a whopping four points to the victor! Let’s take a look at the action!

Game: CGY 10, WOR 0

This game was just as lopsided as it looked on the scoresheet. Worcester has been having a tough year, coming in winless and pointless on the year and carrying a staggering -108 goals differential along with them to their place in dead last. Matching up against the league’s first place squad was destined to get ugly, and it sure did. Outshooting the Blades by a final 50-13 margin, seventeen different Inferno players found their way onto the box score, four of whom had two-goal outings (Jenner, Leslie, Turnbull and Decker) and seven of which had multi-point appearances. It was a great way to finish out their regular season home schedule in front of the local crowd and celebrate You Can Play day!

Final Thoughts:

Team Captain Rebecca Johnston continues to lead the squad in scoring, adding a point on Sunday to remain in 3rd place in the CWHL scoring race. With a 2 goal outing, Brianne Jenner still leads the Inferno in goal scoring at 16, and Rebecca Leslie has snuck into the hunt giving the team three players in the top ten race.

In the blue paint, starting netminder Alex Rigsby had the weekend off. Outstanding rookie backup Annie Belanger took the reigns on Sunday and was backed up by sophomore Lindsey Post. (You can read more about Lindsey in our Inferno Spotlight from last season HERE)

Annie’s excellent statistical performance continues in a small sample size. This was her eighth start on the year moving her record to 7-1, as she now is tied for the lead league in shutouts at 4, and sits first in GAA at 1.18 and first in SV% at .945.

News & Notes:

-Sunday’s game was the biggest margin of victory in Inferno franchise history, surpassing the record set earlier this year in an October 28th 9-0 shutout win over (you guessed it) the Worcester Blades. It also ties the record for the most goals in a single game by the team from a January 20th 10-3 win over the Vanke Rays last season.

Up Next:

Calgary will spend the rest of their regular season schedule on the road, making the annual trek to China to face the league’s only non-North America based team, the Shenzen KRS Vanke Rays. That three game series is being streamed on thecwhl.com/watch and runs February 20th, 22nd, and 23rd. The overseas excursion will be a good bonding exercise before our Ladies In Red head home to host Clarkson Cup Playoffs games! Keep it locked to Matchsticks & Gasoline as the 2018-19 CWHL season winds down!