Natalie Spooner has a matter-of-fact answer for what it’ll take for her Toronto Furies to get a pair of wins from the defending champions from Calgary, who are rolling into town this weekend for back-to-back games.
“We have to play some of our best hockey of the season,” says the 26-year-old Olympic gold medallist.
It’s tough to argue with that.
The Calgary Inferno, last year’s Clarkson Cup champs, boast a Canadian Women’s Hockey League-leading 15-3 record, and they’ll come to Toronto’s MasterCard Centre as the favourites. Toronto (7-8-2) has yet to beat Calgary in four previous meetings this season.
The series opens Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. ET tilt will be broadcast on Sportsnet.
We caught up with both team’s captains—Spooner, for Toronto, and fellow Canadian national team member and Olympic gold medallist, Brianne Jenner, for Calgary—to help key in on some storylines and players to watch in this matchup.
Toronto’s near-wins
Yes, Toronto has yet to earn a win off Calgary this season. But as Jenner points out, their first two games went to overtime. “Toronto has taken some games from top teams,” says the 25-year-old, who’s from Oakville, Ont. “We’re not taking them lightly.”
Of those two OT losses, Spooner says they came as a result of defensive breakdowns. “They were able to capitalize,” she says. “If we can turn things around and capitalize earlier on their breakdowns, we have a good chance.”
Calgary’s strength between the pipes
It’s an embarrassment of riches situation when it comes to Calgary’s goaltending: They have three No. 1s.
There’s rookie Emerance Maschmeyer, who boasts a league-best .932 save percentage. There’s Genevieve Lacasse, who was on the Canadian team that won Olympic gold in Sochi in 2014. And there’s last year’s playoff MVP, Delayne Brian, whose 1.81 GAA is third-best in the CWHL.
“We’re confident when we’re in front of any one of them,” says Jenner.
The Furies plan: Wreak havoc in front. “We’re gonna have to get a net-front presence, and get on top of those rebounds,” Spooner says.
Shots, shots, shots
Much of the Furies offensive attack will come from the blue line.
“Renata Fast on defence—she’s super-skilled, really fast, and gets a lot of pucks to the net,” Spooner says. “We also have Carlee Campbell who’s a big body with a really, really hard shot. Look for those two to shoot a lot from the point.”
Spooner also points to Kelly Terry (“super speedy”) and Jenelle Kohanchuk as providing some firepower up front, as well as rookie Michela Cava.
And, of course, there’s the captain herself. “I’m hoping to use my speed, and hopefully put a few in the net,” Spooner says.
Calgary looking to get back in the win column
The Inferno are coming off just their third loss of the season after dropping a 4-1 decision to Montreal last weekend.
Before that game, they’d been on a roll offensively.
Rookie Iya Gavrilova—the 29-year-old Russian—is seventh overall in league scoring, and on a point-per-game pace through 16 games. “She’s been really hot lately—it seems like everything that’s coming off her stick is going in the net,” Jenner says. “Baily Bram’s also been on a bit of a hot streak.”
It’s Jenner who leads her team in scoring, with seven goals and 12 assists in 14 games. She refused to pump her own tires, though.
Spooner has some ideas for how to shut down her national team teammate. “She can really shoot the puck,” Spooner says. “We have to shut her down early and get on her body and not let her get around the net. At all.”
Sunday’s is the first of four CWHL games to appear on Sportsnet this season. Other games on the broadcast are Toronto vs. Montreal on Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET, the CWHL All-Star game on Feb. 11 and the Clarkson Cup Final in March.
