Inferno shutout Furies in Game 2, force Game 3

After a disappointing Game 1 on Friday evening, the Calgary Inferno came back in Game 2 to force a third game on Sunday afternoon against the Toronto Furies. The winner moves on to the Clarkson Cup.

The Furies had a chance right off the opening faceoff and Alex Rigsby was forced to make an early save. There were a few back-and-forth chances for both teams as they exchanged penalties with two shorthanded chances for the Inferno, but this period went scoreless with the Inferno outshooting the Furies 10-4.

The second period started out with a lot more intensity. The Inferno had a great chance right off the faceoff, followed by a good chance for the Furies. The rest of the period saw a dominating performance by the Inferno as they outshot the Furies 12-2 in what was an intense period, but it remained scoreless.

The third period saw a lot more action than the previous two. Right off the faceoff, the Furies had a great chance but the puck hit the post. Rigsby had to make a couple of saves following that before the Inferno finally got on the board as Kacey Bellamy shot the puck from the point and Rebecca Johnston tipped it in. The rest of the period was quite dominating for the Inferno as both teams exchanged a few penalties.

With under seven minutes to go, Blayre Turnbull found the rebound and got the insurance goal to put the Inferno up 2-0. With just under three seconds to go, the Inferno sealed the victory with an empty net goal from Brianne Jenner. The Inferno outshot the Furies 42-13 in the game, with 20 shots coming in that final frame.

“She was unbelievable. She was a brick wall,” said Bellamy on Furies goaltender Shea Tiley. “I think we just tried to stay positive the whole game and tried to get as many pucks to the net as we could. I just thought today was one of the best team victories we’ve had all year and probably one of the most important ones we’ve had all year.”

Both teams will play a final game on Sunday at noon where the winner will move on to the Clarkson Cup on March 24. Tickets for Sunday’s game can be found here.