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Look at the box scores of the two games between the Boston Blades and Les Canadiennes de Montreal and what you will see is the definition of lopsided.
Les Canadiennes outscored the Blades 11-0 and out-shot them 112-26. In each game, Montreal scored two goals in under a minute, including two shortanded goals in Saturday's matchup.
It was not a pretty sight for Boston fans.
And, yet, rather than dwell on the negatives, Blades Assistant Captain Kristina Brown remained positive on her team's performance.
"Putting the score aside, that was the best we've played all season," Brown said on Monday.
Digging deeper into the games and you can see where she's coming from.
The Blades played with a short bench on Saturday, missing All-Star defensemen Dru Burns and forward Megan Myers. They played well defensively, holding Les Canadiennes to just two even-strength goals. In spurts, they were also able to break the puck out and transition.
Really, it was just minute in the second period that did the Blades in.
Earlier in the period, a Boston powerplay really didn't amount to anything. The Blades had trouble keeping possession in Montreal's zone. After seeing their penalty kill once, it seemed like the Blades would get a chance to adjust and even the score when the Les Canadiennes received another penalty later in the period.
Unfortunately, momentum swung in completely the opposite direction. The Blades were worse the second time around, and Les Canadiennes were able score two shorthanded goals in under a minute.
"We didn't get the possession we wanted," Brown said of the powerplay. "We knew what we did and we knew it couldn't happen again."
In a manner of speaking, however, it did happen again.
In the opening minute of Sunday's game, Les Canadiennes scored two goals, the second just 12 seconds after the first. Though the Blades played Montreal well the remainder of the period, the game was all but in the books from the word "go."
The epitome of consistency, Genevieve Lacasse had another outstanding weekend, saving 101 of 112. She is currently tied in third for save percentage with .915, though the person she's tied with had made just 195 saves to Lacasse's 842. In fact, Lacasse has made more than double the number of saves then the next highest goaltender - Toronto's Christina Kessler with 411.
It's hard to imagine what people expected of the Boston Blades after their devastating off season, but it's doubtful many saw them as a 1-17 team at this point in the season. As if sensing this, Blades General Manager Krista Patronick released this statement on the team's Instagram account yesterday:
Here's the key takeaway:
"While we haven't seen the desired results yet on the ice yet, there is no doubt this team is the hardest working, most committed and fiercely passionate group of women to ever don Blades jerseys."
With players going the extra mile like Lacasse and who see the positives a sub-par weekend like Brown, it's hard to doubt that statement.