Inferno: Weekend Wrap

Having finished up their North American regular season schedule, the Inferno headed overseas to China for their final portion of the season. The CWHL’s only non-North American based team, the Shenzen KRS Vanke Rays, welcomed the squad for a three game series. Let’s take a look back at the action!

GAME 1: CGY 2, KRS 1

With a pair of goals in the first period from Rebecca Johnston and Katelyn Gosling, the Inferno shot out to a quick 2-0 lead. Shenzen would cut the lead in half in the second frame, but on the backbone of Alex Rigsby’s 26 save goaltending performance the visitors would hold on for the win.

GAME 2: CGY 4, KRS 3 (OT)

In the second contest it was the Rays with a 2-0 first. Carrying it into the 3rd period, the Inferno rallied back on goals from captain Rebecca Johnston, a shorthanded marker from Brianne Jenner, and a tally from Katelyn Gosling. Shenzen would answer back to send things into extra time, but Brianne Jenner would notch her second of the game to finish things off for the W!

GAME 3: CGY 4, KRS 3

In the regular season’s final contest for Calgary, we got the same score as the second-to-last game, without the OT! With back and forth action, the Inferno notched the game winner off the stick of Katelyn Gosling’s third marker of the series to wrap the regular season with a victory and a sweep!

Final Thoughts:

Calgary’s winds up with a healthy 47 points on the year to clinch first place in the league. They’ll host the fourth seed come playoff time, so it’ll be worth watching the three horse race for the last spot between Shenzen, Toronto and the defending champs, Markham.

Team Captain Rebecca Johnston will finish up her regular season in the team points lead, currently winding up third overall in the CWHL scoring race. Having scored at a 1.44 points per game and adding 7 powerplay points, she has had an excellent campaign. Johnston is joined in the final top ten race by teammate Brianne Jenner, who lead in the Inferno with 19 goals. Brianna Decker and Rebecca Leslie round out the top ten with 26 points each.

Up Next:

Having previously clinched home ice advantage, the Inferno will return home to host the first round of the Clarkson Cup playoffs. As the number one seed, they’ll be hosting the fourth place seed in a best of three series in round one. The victor of the series will advance to the winner-take-all single game Clarkson Cup Finals. Round one games are scheduled at 8pm on Friday March 8^th, 6:45 pm on Saturday, March 9^th, and if a tie-breaker game three is necessitated it will be on Sunday the 10^th at 12:00. The Inferno’s opponent is yet to be determined as the CWHL regular season winds down, so keep it locked to M&G as our Ladies In Red await their opponents!