MARKHAM, Ont. — Brianna Decker scored a natural hat trick in the third period as the Boston Blades opened the 2015 Clarkson Cup women’s hockey championship Wednesday with a 3-0 win over the defending champion Toronto Furies.
Decker, a former Wisconsin badgers star coming off an impressive rookie season with Boston, opened the scoring 2:29 into the third.
She added a power-play goal at 13:55 and capped the scoring with a short-handed empty-netter with 33 seconds left in regulation.
"We were missing a couple of players today, but everybody stepped up," Decker said. "Everyone played their role and that’s why we got the ‘W’ today."
Boston goaltender Genevieve Lacasse made 26 saves for the shutout, while Toronto’s Christina Kessler stopped 30 shots.
In a later game, Charline Labonte made 30 saves for the shutout as the Montreal Stars blanked the Calgary Inferno 4-0.
Caroline Ouelette, Noemie Marin, Kim Deschenes and Ann-Sophie Bettez scored for Montreal.
"Charlie is a really great goalie and if she sees them she’s probably going to save them," said Calgary Inferno forward Rebecca Johnston.
Calgary goaltender Delayne Brian made 19 saves on 22 shots in taking the loss. Camille Trautman replaced Brian late in the game and stopped two of the three shots she faced.
