Ann-Sophie Bettez had a goal and added two assists as the Montreal chapter of the PWHPA won their second straight game at the Secret Dream Gap Tour, 6-1 over hometown Calgary on Tuesday evening.
Montreal used four second-period goals to extend their lead, and earned a second straight bonus point, this time for scoring five goals or more.
They had a good start, as Marie-Philip Poulin scored her second goal of the showcase after entering the zone with speed, taking a pass from Bettez and firing a shot over Calgary goaltender Marlène Boissonnault. The goal came just 1:01 into the game.
Calgary responded shortly after with a goal of their own. Sarah Potomak jumped on the loose puck and fired a wrist shot for her first PWHPA goal. The goal came less than two minutes after Poulin’s opener.
It was the only time that Emerance Maschmeyer, getting the start for Montreal, would be beat as she made 30 saves in the game.
Montreal re-took the lead just over halfway through the first period when Jessie Eldridge pounced on a rebound near the crease and put the puck over Boissonnault. The power play goal gave Montreal a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish over the rest of the game.
After a second period that saw both teams scoreless, but not without chances. Maschmeyer came up big with a stick save midway through the period.
The third period was always going to be about which team would be most affected by the situation they were in. Montreal was playing their second game in 15 months in a back-to-back, and Calgary was playing their first game after having limited practice time due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In the end, Montreal was able to pull away in the final period. Montreal ended the game with 44 shots on goal.
Laura Stacey made it 3-1 when she came down the wing and fired a wrist shot past Boissonnault. Sarah Lefort got an assist on the play, but the goal doesn’t happen without her stretch to stay onside at the blue line.
With just over six minutes left in the game, Bettez added another assist when she found a pinching Karell Emard who made no mistake to beat Boissonnault to make it 4-1.
“When I saw [Rebecca Leslie] get the puck to [Bettez], I was hoping she’d see me coming for the back door.” Emard said. “We played together in a previous life in CEGEP so maybe it was that connection.”
Emard was a forward on that Dawson College team and has switched between forward and defence at the pro level based on the team’s situation.
“I haven’t scored that many goals on defence, so I’ll take this one for sure.”
The question became would Montreal push for the fifth goal that would net them an extra point in the round robin standings in the modified scoring system. The answer would be yes — and the players were aware of it as well. Bettez got her third point and first goal, and there was a louder celebration than there normally would be for a 5-1 goal.
“We celebrated that much because we knew we got the extra point with that fifth goal,” Bettez said.
Not to be outdone, Poulin would get her third point of the game assisting on Kristen O’Neill’s first PWHPA goal just over a minute later.
Poulin’s five points currently lead the showcase in scoring.
The standings through the first two games are steadily in Montreal’s favour, as they have six points through two regulation wins and two bonus points (one shorthanded goal on Monday, and five goals on Tuesday). Both Toronto and Calgary are at 0 points but that will change on Wednesday when those two teams face off for their first of two meetings.
Montreal has Wednesday off before coming back with back-to-back games on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. EDT against Toronto (Sportsnet.ca and Sportsnet Now) and Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT against Calgary, which will be broadcast on Sportsnet as well as streamed.
The championship game of the showcase will be played Sunday, May 30 at 4:30 p.m. and broadcast on Sportsnet.
