The Boston Blades will head north to start the 2016 portion of the CWHL season as they face Les Canadiennes de Montreal for the first time this season. Puck drops at 5:30 PM Saturday for the You Can Play game, which will be streamed on CWHLLive.com, and 1:30 PM Sunday.

Boston has been out of action since December 20th, dropping their last two games of 2015 to the Toronto Furies. Megan Shea had Boston’s lone goal on the weekend, inducing the Teddy Bear Toss with just 54 seconds left in regulation during Saturday’s contest and taking over the team lead in goals with 3. On the defensive end, Genevieve Lacasse became the CWHL’s single season saves record holder on Saturday, making 3 early saves to pass former Blades goaltender Mandy Cronin (651) record set in 2010. Lacasse finished the weekend with 741 saves on the season, making 36 saves Saturday and 56 on Sunday. Toronto tallied 4 goals during each contest on the weekend.

Les Canadiennes spent this past week at the NHL’s Winter Classic, participating in the first ever Outdoor Women’s Classic presented by Scotiabank. After skating to a 1-1 tie on Thursday, Les Canadiennes will play their first regulation game in 3 weeks on Saturday. Their last CWHL action saw them split a weekend series with the Brampton Thunder on December 12th and 13th, dropping Saturday’s contest 4-0 before defeating the Thunder 3-1 on Sunday.

This will technically be the first meeting between Les Canadiennes and the Blades, although Boston is very familiar with Montreal’s CWHL franchise. The Blades defeated the then-Stars to win the 2015 Clarkson Cup 3-2 in overtime on March 7th, 2015.

Les Canadiennes are led this season by goaltender Charline Labonte, who leads the CWHL in goals against average (1.71) in 8 games played, and rookie sensation Marie-Philip Poulin, who is tied for the CWHL lead in points with 19. Meanwhile, Lacasse has started all 16 games for the Blades and leads the CWHL in minutes played (965) and saves (741, CWHL single season record), while Erin Kickham leads the Blades in points with 7 (1 goal, 6 assists).

Saturday’s game will be streamed on CWHLLive.com and will be part of the CWHL’s You Can Play games this weekend. For more information on the CWHL’s partnership with YCP and Saturday’s YCP games, click here.

The Blades return home for their final 2 contests of the season on January 16th and 17th when they face Les Canadiennes. Saturday’s game will be at New England Sports Center at 7 PM, while Sunday’s game (broadcast on CWHL Live) has been moved to Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell at 1:30 PM. Special Student Rush tickets are available for any college student with a valid ID for Sunday’s contest here.