Furiouser and furiouser: Toronto sweeps weekend series against Montréal

The Toronto Furies handed Les Canadiennes de Montréal their first losses of the season this past weekend.

Yes, you read that correctly: The Toronto Furies, who finished second-to-last in last year’s CWHL standings, beat last year’s Clarkson Cup runners up and perennial championship favorites not once but twice in a two-game sweep at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto.

The Furies outshot Les Canadiennes 30-19 on Saturday. They trailed after 20 minutes of play thanks to Caroline Ouellette scoring on the power play at 9:58, but Toronto’s Jenelle Kohanchuk tied the game late in the second with just 11 seconds remaining in the frame. Her second goal of the season was assisted by Julie Allen and rookie Michela Cava. Kohanchuk picked up another point on the Furies’ second tally of the night, assisting on Kelly Terry’s goal at 4:16 of the third period.

Sunday’s rematch-and-redemption storyline seemed predictable enough for Les Canadiennes, but the Furies had other plans. They struck three times in just over six minutes: Cava, demonstrating why she sits second on the team in points, took a pass from Allen and beat Montréal goaltender Catherine Herron. Allen added two more goals for Toronto — an even-strength goal at 2:43 and a power play marker at 6:02 — and the Furies ended the first period with a tidy three-goal lead. Although Montréal scored the lone goal of the second period and opened the scoring in the third, the Furies happily foiled their comeback bid and walked away with a 5-2 victory.

For the first time in... ever... Furies sweep Montreal in a 2-game series. pic.twitter.com/xlLIdFJhTm

— Toronto Furies (@TorontoCWHL) November 20, 2016

While no team is in rebuild mode quite like the Boston Blades, there’s no doubt Toronto did some serious retooling in the offseason and in the draft, appointing Natalie Spooner the new captain and acquiring fresh talent like Cava and Renata Fast. The team’s individual parts are too good not to coalesce at some point, but no one expected it to happen this soon, and certainly not against Les Canadiennes. If they can build on this momentum and keep it going, they could be a serious threat in the CWHL.