The New York Sirens shook off their Olympic break rust a little too late Thursday night at home against the Montréal Victoire.
Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne gave up three goals in the first 11 minutes, and the Sirens ultimately were unable to claw back, losing 4-1.
“We got away from some of our habits,” said Sirens head coach Greg Fargo. “They were able to capitalize on those looks that they got. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve gotta be ready to play.”
The Sirens outshot the Victoire 35-22. Montréal’s 22 shots on goal is a season-low, but three of the team’s first four shots were goals.
This loss is New York’s fourth in a row — however, the team is still in playoff position as the No. 4 seed. The Sirens are up two points on the Ottawa Charge.
Sirens rookie Casey O’Brien got the Sirens on the board early in the second period on a power play, assisted by Maja Nylén Persson and Sarah Fillier. This is O’Brien’s fifth goal of the season, and it extended her point streak to four games.
Sirens forward Fillier played well despite returning from the Milan Olympics only two days ago. As a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team, she scored the only goal for her team in the gold medal game last week.
“It’s always fun to come back, and we feel like we have something pretty special in our locker room,” Fillier said. “Tough one today, because it really feels like we missed an opportunity to start the second half hot and in the right way.”
Osborne also won a silver medal with Canada, but was a backup goalie and didn’t see any ice time. She was pulled three minutes into the second period after the Victoire appeared to score a fourth goal — it was later overturned because of goalie interference, but Osborne remained out.
“[Osborne] looked a little off today. Lot going on for her over the last three weeks, and others as well. Not her best, but we knows she’ll respond really well,” Fargo said.
Backup Callie Shanahan came in and stopped 15 of 16 shots — her second Sirens appearance ever. Fargo said he was happy for her and thought she did a “tremendous” job.
Next, the Sirens will take on current No. 1 seed Boston on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game is New York’s second of a three-game homestead, before the team travels to Denver on March 15 for a Takeover Tour game against Minnesota.
