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It is a little over a month since their last meeting, but it will be a battle for first place when Les Canadiennes host the Calgary Inferno this weekend.
The Inferno have 28 points which puts them three points ahead of the second place Canadiennes. With the teams facing off in back to back games this weekend, Les Canadiennes have the opportunity to claim the top spot in the standings with a sweep.
Montreal is returning home after completing the season series sweep last weekend in Boston in two games that gave them a lot more trouble than you would have expected.
Calgary are coming to Montreal after sweeping the Brampton Thunder last weekend with scores of 4-3 and 4-1. Calgary have lost just two of their 16 games played so far, both of which occurred on the road. The first was a 5-2 loss to the Brampton Beast in November, and the second was against Les Canadiennes in December when the two teams faced off in a historic game at the Bell Centre.
The game featured incredible performances from goalies Charline Labonté and Emerance Maschmeyer. Labonté made 25 saves on 25 shots from the Inferno, while Maschmeyer stopped 31 out of the 32 shots fired by Montreal. The lone goal was scored by Marie-Philip Poulin halfway through the first period.
The following day Calgary claimed a 5-3 win over Les Canadiennes. Calgary’s Blayre Turnbull, Brigette Lacquette, and Sarah Davis each scored a goal while Bailey Bram scored twice.
Bram was named the CWHL’s player of the month after scoring five goals and six assists over four games. She is fifth in the league in scoring.
On the defensive end, Calgary has one of the CWHL’s most well defended nets. Their goalies Emerance Maschmeyer and Genevieve Lacasse currently having the leagues highest save percentages at 0.941 and 0.932 respectively.
Montreal’s Caroline Ouellette is still leading the CWHL in scoring, and after earning her 300th point, she once again has the chance to make history. Ouellette has 128 career goals, two behind Jayna Hefford’s 130 which is the all-time CWHL record.
With Montreal and Calgary's teams boasting highly effective goaltending, increased offensive productivity will be important for both teams. Les Canadiennes and the Inferno met in the final series of the 2015-2016 playoffs with Calgary winning the series 2-1 and outscoring Montreal 8-3.
Saturday’s game will be played at the Complexe Sportif Bell and starts at 7:30. Sunday’s game is scheduled for 1:30 at the Centre Civique in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Tickets for both games can be purchased for $15 at the door or online here.
Les Canadiennes scoring
| # | Name | Pos | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Pos | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 13 | Caroline Ouellette | F | 16 | 13 | 14 | 27 |
| 29 | Marie-Philip Poulin | F | 15 | 11 | 14 | 25 |
| 24 | Ann-Sophie Bettez | F | 16 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| 8 | Cathy Chartrand | D | 16 | 1 | 13 | 14 |
| 76 | Karell Emard | F | 16 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 16 | Sarah Lefort | F | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 10 | Noémie Marin | F | 14 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Kim Deschenes | F | 14 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 19 | Katia Clement-Heydra | F | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 6 | Carly Hill | D | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 | Lauriane Rougeau | D | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 51 | Cassandra Poudrier | D | 16 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 21 | Julie Chu | D | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 39 | Marion Allemoz | F | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 47 | Emmanuelle Blais | F | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 20 | Jordanna Peroff | F | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 71 | Leslie Oles | F | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Melanie Desrochers | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 62 | Emilie Bocchia | F | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Sophie Brault | D | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Brittney Fouracres | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Amanda Makela | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Catherine Herron | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Charline Labonté | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Alyssa Sherrard | F | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Calgary Inferno scoring
| # | Name | Pos | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Pos | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 19 | Brianne Jenner | F | 12 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
| 17 | Bailey Bram | F | 14 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| 25 | Iya Gavrilova | F | 14 | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| 6 | Rebecca Johnston | F | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 27 | Jill Saulnier | F | 12 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 7 | Brittany Esposito | F | 16 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| 9 | Sarah Davis | F | 12 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 26 | Blayre Turnbull | F | 14 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | Katelyn Gosling | D | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Jessica Campbell | F | 12 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 21 | Haley Irwin | F | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 12 | Meaghan Mikkelson | D | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 4 | Brigette Lacquette | D | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 24 | Hayleigh Cudmore | D | 16 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 | Jenna Cunningham | F | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 28 | Louise Warren | F | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 15 | Elana Lovell | F | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | Jacquie Pierri | D | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Jessica Wong | D | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Akane Hosoyamada | D | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Rhianna Kurio | F | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Erica Kromm | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Aina Takeuchi | D | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Delayne Brian | G | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Toni Ross | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Genevieve Lacasse | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Emerance Maschmeyer | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Laura Dostaler | F | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
| # | Name | Team | GP | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Team | GP | W | L | OT | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Genevieve Lacasse | CGY | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.60 | 0.932 | 0 |
| 38 | Emerance Maschmeyer | CGY | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1.77 | 0.941 | 0 |
| 30 | Delayne Brian | CGY | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.81 | 0.923 | 1 |
| 32 | Charline Labonté | MTL | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1.59 | 0.929 | 4 |
| 31 | Catherine Herron | MTL | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.18 | 0.896 | 1 |