The Calgary Inferno had their final weekend series of the calendar year against the Toronto Furies. The Furies had a bit of a rocky start to the season but have battled back and headed into this past weekend on a three-game winning streak.

Although the Inferno overall played a good game, especially in the final two periods, they had trouble scoring – something they haven’t exactly dealt with practically all season.

The first period started out with an early penalty to the Furies, but the Inferno kept the puck around the perimeter and couldn’t get many quality shots on Shea Tiley. That powerplay lasted only about a minute as the Inferno also took a penalty, along with two more back-to-back penalties.

With Rebecca Johnston, one of the Inferno’s best penalty killers, sitting in the penalty box on that second penalty, the Furies capitalized with a goal by Shiann Darkangelo. They then scored on their third powerplay of the period with a shot from Sarah Nurse.

Later in the period, Kacey Bellamy blasted one from the point to bring the Inferno within one. The period finished 2-1 for the Furies.

The second period was, to put it bluntly, very boring. There were no penalties and no goals. While it was still a fast-paced period with some end-to-end action, neither team got many quality shots or chances and it was still 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period started out somewhat similar to the way the second ended. While both teams had their opportunities on the powerplay, neither were able to capitalize.

With a little less than 10 to go, Nurse and Natalie Spooner were on a two-on-one breakaway which Annie Belanger stopped to keep the Inferno in the game. But just a couple minutes later, Spooner was on a breakaway and managed to pot one past Belanger to give the Furies the 3-1 lead with four minutes remaining in the game.

The Furies added another empty net goal to finish the game 4-1. This was the Inferno’s first loss in regulation since the season-opener and their first loss in regulation on home ice this season.

For some reason, the Inferno always manage to play better on the second day of their weekend series.

The Inferno started Sunday with some great zone time and a great shot from Brianne Jenner early on which was stopped by Elaine Chuli. Shortly after, the Furies took a penalty so the Inferno went to work with the woman-advantage.

On the powerplay, it took the Inferno a little bit to get set up, but once they did, the puck was fed over to Bellamy at the point who slapped one past Chuli for the 1-0 lead. Not long after that goal, the Inferno headed back to the powerplay.

The Inferno had a great shot by Katelyn Gosling on that PP, but otherwise, not much was happening and it went scoreless. The Furies then had their chance on the PP, but they couldn’t quite get set up and it also went scoreless.

After their powerplay expired, it looked as though the Furies may have scored, but the refs immediately waved it off since they ran into Belanger in the process.

Later in the period, Johnston got the puck over to Brianna Decker who was falling and managed to put the puck in top-shelf. Credit to Rebecca Leslie on that one as well for providing the screen and somewhat confusing the Furies players.

The first period finished 2-0 for the Inferno as they outshot the Furies 14-7.

The second period started with an early penalty to the Furies, so the Inferno had their third powerplay of the game. They couldn’t get much going while on the PP, but just as it expired, they went down the ice and Katelyn Gosling had a rocket slap shot to give the Inferno the 3-0 lead.

Right after that goal, Halli Krzyzaniak couldn’t keep the puck in at the blue line and MacKenzie MacNeil had a breakaway which Belanger denied.

Later, the Inferno took a penalty and again, the Furies couldn’t make much happen on their powerplay. The Jenner line was out on the ice and Jenner had what looked to be an innocent shot on goal but it managed to get past Chuli and the Inferno took a 4-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Johnston shot the puck and it was somewhat of a bouncer which Chuli couldn’t quite get a hold of, and it found the back of the net as well. Chuli let in five goals on 26 shots which resulted in a goaltending change for the Furies, so Tiley finished the game off.

The second period finished 5-0 for the Inferno as they outshot the Furies 26-14 at that point.

In the third period, the Furies looked somewhat defeated. It was all Inferno, and even when they were on the penalty kill (twice in the period), they still seemed to get zone time.

Around the midway mark of the period, Jenner had the puck at the inner circle, and she was somewhat playing with the puck with no Furies player being aggressive on her to try and steal the puck. Again, they looked quite defeated. After a couple seconds, Jenner’s patience paid off as she managed to get the puck past Tiley for her second goal of the game and 10th of the season.

That about did it for the third period. The Inferno finished this one 6-0 with a shutout for Belanger. While Saturday wasn’t what they hoped for, it was still a great way to finish 2018 and they still continue to lead the standings with 27 points in 16 games.

The Inferno don’t play again until Jan. 5, where they’ll be in Markham to face the Thunder.

All-Star captain voting is currently underway. Inferno defender Brigette Lacquette is currently leading the running with a whopping 56.52% vote. This is among 34 total players. For reference, the second highest vote is 5.48% which goes to Markham goaltender Liz Knox.

I guess Lacquette has a lot of fans, hey? Voting can be found here.