Team Sonnet racks up the points in a barn burning victory over Team Scotiabank

Do you ever see a hockey game that makes you wonder if the players met up before puck drop, shook hands, and then agreed to not really play all that much defense?

Jamie Lee Rattray was the first to make her mark on the scoresheet less than a minute into the game with a goal grinded out in front of the net. From that moment on, it was hard to keep up.

After Rattray scored, Madison Field scored less than two minutes later to make it 2-0 for Toronto, Rattray scored again to make it 3-0 (and to put her on hat-trick watch less than five minutes in), Loren Gabel scored on the power play to make it 4-0, Brittany Howard made it 5-0 for Toronto (which earned Team Sonnet an extra point in the standings) and 35 seconds later Sarah Potomak willed Calgary back into the game after deflecting a Blayre Turnbull point-shot into Team Sonnet’s net to make things 5-1.

If six goals in the first wasn’t enough, there were four more in the second. Turnbull scored on the powerplay for Scotiabank to make it 5-2, Howard answered right back with her second goal of the game making it 6-2. Evidently, Brittany Howard wasn’t done scoring goals for Team Sonnet because she went five-hole on Sauvé to complete the natural hat trick and earn Team Sonnet yet another extra point in the standings making it 7-2 for Toronto.

Here's Brittany Howard's hat trick goal. This one means a little more because it's worth an extra point in the PWHPA Scoring System. Team Sonnet has secured at least two points in the standings in this one, two more if they come away with the win. pic.twitter.com/n9r5txQXNY

— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) May 26, 2021

Meaghan Mikkelson put forward one last hurrah to make it 7-3.

The third period only had one goal. Victoria Bach really hammered Team Sonnet’s victory home with one last insurance goal to make the final score 8-3 for Team Sonnet (although, Sonnet is an insurance company so technically it would be accurate to call every goal Toronto scored an insurance goal).

It might be a bit of a hot-take in a game that had 11 goals, but the goaltending wasn’t that bad. Both Kassdy Sauvé and Amanda Makela made big saves, it just so happened that the skaters were intent on scoring even bigger goals. Sauvé especially is going to want to forget about this game, and she’ll have to if Calgary wants to make anything resembling a comeback in this showcase. .

It was apparent that both teams, but especially Calgary, hadn’t had very many opportunities to practice together before the showcase. There were numerous defensive fumbles that lead to Team Sonnet’s seemingly never-ending barrage of goals.

A summary of the first two periods of this game between Team Sonnet and Team Scotiabank in a single image.

It's 7-3 Sonnet ahead after 40 minutes. pic.twitter.com/VV28B6NdHE

— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) May 26, 2021

You don’t need a professional hockey analyst to tell you what’s wrong with this image. Poor Sauvé. When the other team has a top line of Gabel-Kosta-Spooner, any goalie would really need the defense to help out. It’s not all bad news for Calgary, the goals that they did score give hope for their next few games where hopefully they’ll get a little more cohesive on the ice. You can’t keep a team with Rebecca Johnston and Blayre Turnbull down this easily, they’ll be back on Friday to play Montreal’s Team Bauer

The victory combined with the extra points gave Team Sonnet four points in the standings. They’ll play Team Bauer who leads the showcase with six points. A victory tomorrow for Team Sonnet will tie them and a victory plus an extra point will put them ahead.

The next game in the PWHPA Secret Dream Gap Tour Calgary Showcase is May 27 at 5 p.m.