PWHPA: Round Robin Wraps Up

Day six of the 2021 PWHPA Secret Dream Gap Tour kicked off this afternoon, and has shifted locations. The final three days of the tournament have switched venues from the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex at Grey Eagle Casino on Tsuut’ina Nation Land in Treaty 7 Territory. As an official tournament sponsor and partner, the Calgary Flames have offered up the Scotiabank Saddledome to host the back half of the games. The sixth day of seven for the PWHPA Secret Dram Gap Tour marked the end of Round Robin tournament play. With the Championship Final going Sunday, host team Calgary needed the win and a combination of bonus points to catch Toronto and sneak their way into the final.

DAY SIX: Team Scotiabank (CAL) vs Team Sonnet (TOR)

Calgary would start Kristen Campbell in net for the second game in row, after allowing 3 in a loss to Team Bauer yesterday. Campbell is the third different netminder to start for the squad, but the best option to move forward after Marlene Boisonnault and Kassidy Sauve allowed 6 and 8 goals against in their respective games. Toronto’s Team Sonnet would counter with Amanda Makela in the blue paint.

Just over a minute in, Calgary would receive its first powerplay of the afternoon on a minor penalty to Nicole Kosta. Despite some good chances, they were unable to capitalize. The opening frame would be a tightly contested, with neither team able to take the goose eggs off the board. Late in the period, Team Scotiabank’s Blayre Turnbull would sit for hooking with 5:10 remaining and give Team Sonnet the numbers advantage. It would take Toronto only twenty five seconds of powerplay time to get on the board. Off a wicked one-timer, Ella Shelton would bury one and open the scoring! (Assists to Victoria Bach, Laura Fortino)

The late Team Sonnet goal would be the only one of the first twenty minutes, and they would carry the lead in to start the second period. It would take a few minutes into the second stanza, but Calgary would manage to get back in the game. At the 16:22 mark, Team Scotiabank would break through and knot things up at one goal a piece.

This would be a goal in three straight round robin games for Blayre Turnbull (Assists to Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Potomak).

Things would revert back to a tight checking contest, with a slew of special teams play dominating the frame. Shortly after the goal, Toronto’s Nicole Kosta would take her second penalty of the game for tripping up Rebecca Johnston 10:48, but it would be negated just over a minute into the PP by a Kaitlyn Gosling body contact penalty. It lead to 38 seconds of four-on-four play and an abbreviated TOR powerplay, which was then followed by a Meaghan Mikkelson minor for CAL.

A scary moment would follow with just over four minutes left in the frame, as an icing race between TOR’s Renata Fast and CAL’s Meaghan Mikkelson would result in an injury to Mikkelson. After the corner collision, the defender would be helped off the ice by training staff and not return to the game.

The score remained tied heading into the final stanza. Team Scotiabank was still looking to take the lead, and hopefully break the offense open to start racking up bonus points. An early TOR penalty to Nicole Kosta for the 3rd time in the contest would come just over two minutes in. Calgary would be unable to capitalize, but not long afterwards they would manage to grab the lead!

Sarah Potomac (Assists to Rebecca Johnston, Blayre Turnbull) would rack up her fourth goal in four games played, as Team Scotiabank’s top line was in on both of the team’s goals to that point. Potomac would add another late in the frame (unassisted) to make it 3-1, making it five goals in four round robin games and giving her the final goals lead for the tournament.

Team Sonnet’s Jamie Lee Rattray would cut the lead with 1:45 remaining after Toronto pulled their goalie, but time would tick down as Calgary would notch their first win in their final game at the Secret Dream Gap Tour.

The victory would keep Team Scotiabank from being shutout on the round robin board, but the leads from Toronto and Montreal means they were destined to meet in tomorrow Secret Cup championship final!

The Dream Gap Tour Scoring and Standings system is as follows:

-Regulation Win = 2.0 points, OT Win = 1.5 points, Shootout Win = 1.0 points, OT/Shootout Loss = 0.5 points, and a Regulation Loss = 0 points.

Teams can also earn bonus points in the standings for registering a shutout, a hat trick, a shorthanded goal, and scoring a collective five goals or more in a game. Achieving each of these equates to one extra point in the round robin pool standings.

Tomorrow’s Championship Final goes 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT (Sportsnet & SN NOW), live from the Scotiabank Saddledome!

by MilhouseFirehouse