After suffering two lopsided losses, British Columbia turned in a dominant performance against Prince Edward Island on Monday, scoring a 5-1 win to advance to the quarter finals in women's hockey at the Canada Winter Games.
B.C. outshot P.E.I. 45-10 and directed 24 shots at the opposing net while conceding just one during the first period.
But it took 11:55 for B.C. to get its first goal as P.E.I. goaltender Ava Boutilier put up a stubborn front and made a handful of highlight-reel saves.
B.C.'s pressure finally paid off when Olivia Knowles banked a shot off the end boards to the opposing faceoff circle, from where Micah Hart buried the puck into a wide open net.
B.C.'s next goal came less than two minutes later when Sarah Potomak completed a near end-to-end rush with a backhand deke. Knowles also assisted on that goal.
Potomak was nearly as spectacular on her next goal, a shorthanded marker, when she roofed a backhand from close in at 4:32 to make it 3-0 B.C.
B.C. made it 4-0 at 7:09 of the second period on a three-on-two, with Alyssa MacMillan scoring from the trailer position after taking a feed from Knowles. Sarah Morris-Reade also assisted on the goal.
B.C. outshot P.E.I. 12-6 in the second period.
The sides traded goals in the third, beginning just 12 seconds into the frame as Meagan Bores cashed in on a juicy rebound off a Sarah Potomak shot, sister Amy Potomak also assisting.
P.E.I. pressed to break the bubble and was helped by two successive minor penalties to B.C., the second coming with just nine seconds left in the first when Hart was sent to the box for body checking.
P.E.I.'s Lydia Schurman whacked the puck in from the top of the crease during the second man advantage to end B.C. goalie Jenna de Jonge's shutout bid at 10:50, with Sami Sentner assisting.
B.C. was 0-for-4 on the power play and P.E.I. was 1-for-5.
B.C. had lost 7-0 to Quebec and 7-1 to Ontario in its first two round-robin games.
The team will next play on Wednesday, 4 p.m. start at CN Centre, where it will face the second-place finisher in pool A consisting of Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.
