Huge third period lifts Les Canadiennes to weekend sweep of Toronto

Consistent play up and down the lineup has been one of the key components for the play of Les Canadiennes as of late.

After putting up seven goals on Saturday, they repeated the same feat on Sunday, beating the Toronto Furies 7-3 at the Michel-Normandin Arena, and extended their winning streak to four games.

It was a special afternoon game for the home team, as their four Clarkson Cup championship banners were unveilved on the back wall of the arena. Their most recent victory was in March when they beat the Calgary Inferno 3-1 in a rematch of the 2016 matchup. There was a lot of alumni on hand, including most members of the 2016-17 championship team.

Veteran forward Noémie Marin, playing in her 10th season with the team, had a hat trick, officially passing former Canadian Olympian Jayna Hefford for second all-time in CWHL points. She only trails Caroline Ouellette's 309 points in league history.

"I didn't know that," chuckled Marin after the game. "Tonight it was all about the team, and it was so great to see all my former teammates that helped me achieve this feat."

The other goals were scored by Jordanna Peroff, Marion Allemoz, Katia Clement-Heydra, and Sarah Lefort.

With regular starter Emerance Maschmeyer getting the game off, backup Catherine Herron got the nod between the pipes for her fourth start of the season. She made 18 saves for her third win of the season.

The game got off to an inauspicious start as just under three minutes into the game Furies forward Cassidy Delainey caught Herron off-guard with a shot to give them the early lead.

But Montreal fought back. Less than five minutes later, they scored two quick goals 23 seconds apart. It was Marin's first and Peroff who gave Montreal a 2-1 lead just under eight minutes into the game.

Defender Cassandra Poudrier had one of her better games of the season, recording an assist and contributing solid defensive play.

"It's always nice to play in Montreal, but especially this year with our own rink," said Poudrier. "We always have great crowds on hand, and we just had two big wins moving forward."

After Toronto tied the game up at 2-2 midway through the second period with a goal from Carolyne Prevost, the teams headed into the final stanza deadlocked. But that's when Les Canadiennes let the floodgates open.

Two more quick goals two and a half minutes apart by forward Marion Allemoz and Marin's second gave them an early jump into the third, just 3:40 in.

Herron wasn't nearly as tested as her counterpart Amanda Makela, who faced 34 shots against on Sunday. In two games this weekend, Makela, a member of Les Canadiennes last season, allowed 14 goals on 74 shots.

Clement-Heydra then scored to make it 5-2 at 12:09, and Toronto answered with a goal from Jenna Dingeldein just over three minutes later.

With the score 5-3 heading into the final minute, Montreal captain Ann-Sophie Bettez and Marin connected on a beautiful give-and-go, with Bettez passing the puck back to Marin and help her connect on the hat trick. Marin credited her team following the game with the unselfish play of everyone on their roster.

"I love playing with her [Bettez]," said Marin. "I love playing with anybody on this team, nobody is selfish. We want to win, and we want to have fun. There's a reason why we have the four banners, because we play always as a team."

Finally, before the home announcer could even announce the sixth tally, forward Sarah Lefort connected on her third of the season on a nice feed from Clement-Heydra. Clement-Heydra and Bettez each had three points in the afternoon. Les Canadiennes also had three goals on the power play on only four opportunities.

Les Canadiennes will host the Markham Thunder for two games next weekend before they hit the Christmas break.