MONTREAL, QC -- Led by Olympic superstars Marie-Philip Poulin, Caroline Ouellette, and Julie Chu, Les Canadiennes de Montréal swept their Clarkson Cup semifinal series against the Toronto Furies, by scores of 5-1 and 7-1.

Toronto came out quick in game one, with Natalie Spooner taking a shot just seconds after the opening face-off. Montreal regained composure enough to come away with a 14-5 lead on the shot clock, but the contest remained scoreless after a jumpy first period.

“We knew that we could be better than that,” said Ouellette of her team’s regrouping after the opening frame. “It wasn’t the start we wanted. At the beginning of the game, Natalie Spooner took a good shot and it set us back on our heels. We knew that we were better than that and it was time to regain our confidence and play with more fervour, more urgency, and I think that’s what we did in the second.”

Les Canadiennes visibly settled into the game after Ann-Sophie Bettez scored the first goal, at 8:02 of the second. Ouellette buried a powerplay marker less than three minutes later, and followed it up five minutes after that, scoring on a patient play that saw her skate the puck around the net and into the slot before putting it behind goaltender Christina Kessler.

Poulin added two more in the third, collecting four points on the night.

Spooner put the Furies on the scoresheet with 11:20 left in the third off a feed from Alyssa Baldin, but it proved too little, too late as Toronto fell 5-1.

“It’s tough to have a weekend off, just to get your legs going again,” she said of the Furies bye week to end the regular season. “But it was also a nice rest to recuperate for our practices this week and just focus on what Montreal’s going to do. They’re a good team, so we had to try and slow them down a bit, though I guess it didn’t really work today.”

“We’ve actually played every weekend,” noted Ouellette of Les Canadiennes’ schedule, which featured a busier second half. “I’ve really seen our team getting better and better every weekend, so we’re feeling good right now and we’re getting offence from a lot of different combinations, which is really important for our team.”

Heading into game two, Montreal’s focus was on starting strong -- an objective that was achieved when Ouellette scored just 5:14 into the match. A point shot from captain Cathy Chartrand 3:29 later ensured Les Canadiennes a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The real hero for Montreal, however, arrived midway through the period in the form of defender Julie Chu, who stepped onto the ice during the first TV time-out after finishing up coaching duties with the Concordia University Stingers across town.

“For Concordia, we had our last game today, and unfortunately we ended up losing in our second game of the playoffs,” she explained, recounting her journey from rink to rink. “I didn’t want to rush out of there right away because after a season where your team gives everything to try to make it to the next step, and it’s the end of the season, you want to be able to digest and to spend time with them.

“We had a great meeting in the locker room and then afterwards, I knew it was going to be really tight. I think I left Concordia at around 4:55 p.m. (five minutes before the semifinal began). My parents are up (visiting), so they drove me. Like a little kid, I had my hockey bag in the back and I got dressed: full gear, minus my skates -- although I think the girls would’ve liked it if I came in in my skates and helmet too!”

You might have forgiven Chu if she seemed tired, but the four-time Olympian, whose name rang out from the stands upon her arrival, didn’t disappoint: she was credited with a natural hat trick in the second period, merited first-star honours, and heard her name chanted again as the game ended.

“It’s humbling!” she said of the warm reception from the fans. “I’m not really usually one of the players that people chant, because I don’t really score goals, I block shots. I just kind of am this even-keeled person, so I’d have to say I don’t think it’s ever really happened in my life.”

Toronto swapped its netminders during both contests, with Sonja van der Bliek replacing Kessler.

“We left Kessler out to dry a few times there and gave them some tap-in goals, so it was tough for her, I’m sure,” said Natalie Spooner after game two.

Alyssa Baldin, assisted by Kori Cheverie, put the Furies on the board with 6:23 left in the middle session, to end the period with a 5-1 scoreline.

At 6:37 of the final frame, Marie-Philip Poulin wowed the crowd and teammates alike as she skated through three Toronto players in the neutral zone, before deking around Baldin to place the puck between van der Bliek’s pads.

Lauriane Rougeau added a seventh goal for the home side with 8:49 remaining, assisted by Bettez, who earned three helpers on the night, and Ouellette, who was involved in six of her team’s goals.

“Obviously (we’re feeling) down,” said Spooner of the Furies’ season-ending loss. “It’s never nice to lose by that much. Obviously it wasn’t the ending we wanted, but we tried our best and we played for each other.

“I think we could’ve gone to the net more and gotten more pucks to the net,” she added, “but we tried our best. They’re a really great team so they’re going to make great plays and be good defensively, so there’s not much you can do around them.”

Looking toward the Clarkson Cup championship, which takes place in Ottawa on March 13, Les Canadiennes are aiming to focus on the little things in a bid to avenge last year’s overtime defeat.

Chu noted that the experience of having played in a televised game, with the breaks that it entails, may be beneficial in preparation for the final.

“This was a good one because to be honest, it’s been a while since we had a TV time-out and they felt long!” she reflected. “I’m feeling like once we get to the Clarkson Cup, because everything’s heightened -- our excitement, our enthusiasm, everything’s up to another level -- I think that the TV time-outs will be good to calm things down; to be able to have our game plan and check where we want to be.”

“It’s a privilege to make it to the final in this league and now we have to show up and be the better team,” said Ouellette. “(During the next two weeks) I think it’s just about finalizing the details, making sure we’re prepared to face (the opposition). We’ll study them, we’ll make sure that we have a solid plan to play against their (top) players, but in the end it’s going to be about us using our strength, our depth, our speed, and creating chances -- playing the way we’ve been playing.”

“We’re really happy with our work ethic today,” echoed Poulin. “But we’ve just got to keep working.”