OTTAWA, ON (March 2, 2024) – Toronto scored four straight goals and never looked back in a 5-2 victory over Ottawa before a sold-out crowd of 8,447 at The Arena at TD Place on Saturday afternoon.
The victory extends Toronto’s season-high win streak to seven games and is their first win against Ottawa this season – previously losing 5-1 on Jan. 13 and 3-1 on Jan. 23.
Natalie Spooner led the way offensively for Toronto with a goal and an assist, and Kristen Campbell turned aside 23 of 25 shots faced for her eighth straight win.
Spooner opened the scoring on the powerplay at 12:53 of the first period with her league-leading 11th goal of the season and fourth with the advantage. As Toronto controlled the play inside Ottawa’s zone, Renata Fast patiently carried the puck into the middle of the ice and found a wide-open Sarah Nurse in the slot. Nurse turned and fired a low shot that deflected off Spooner and past netminder Emerance Maschmeyer.
Toronto went into the first intermission leading 1-0 and came out flying in the second period with three goals in a span of 2:28.
Brittany Howard was first to strike in the middle frame at the 2:46 mark. Victoria Bach won a puck battle in the corner and fed a perfect pass to an open Howard at the top of the circle who ripped a shot past Maschmeyer’s blocker. It was Howard’s second goal of the season – with her first also scored in Ottawa.
Hannah Miller scored her fourth goal of the season at 4:43 to make the game 3-0 for Toronto. Nurse found a streaking Spooner rushing down the right wing. Spooner’s shot was stopped by Maschmeyer’s right pad, but kicked right to Miller on the doorstep, and she made no mistake, burying the puck into the empty cage.
Following Toronto’s third goal, Ottawa pulled Maschmeyer – who had stopped 10 of 13 shots – and replaced her with backup Sandra Abstreiter.
Just 31 seconds after the change, Samantha Cogan scored on Toronto’s first shot on Abstreiter at 5:14 of the period. Bach found Cogan with time and space at the hashmarks, and the Ottawa native sniped her first PWHL goal as the puck trickled through Abstreiter’s right arm and across the line.
Gabbie Hughes put Ottawa on the board at 11:16 with her team-high sixth goal of the season. Ottawa took advantage of a turnover in the offensive zone and had their net-front persistence pay off. Campbell couldn’t quite handle a Hayley Scamurra backhand in close, and Hughes jammed home the loose puck while battling a pair of Toronto defenders.
Ottawa cut Toronto’s lead in half at 5:49 of the third period with Ashton Bell’s first PWHL goal. Jincy Roese put a shot from the point towards the net, which hit a Toronto defender, and landed in the slot where Bell managed to slap a backhander past Campbell.
Maggie Connors iced the game with an empty net goal at 18:27 – her second tally of the season.
Abstreiter settled into a groove and finished the game with 10 straight saves.
The victory gives Toronto an impressive 19 points in seven games, moving them ahead of Minnesota and into second place in the PWHL standings with 24 points, while Ottawa remains tied for fifth place with New York with 16 points.
Up next, Ottawa hits the road for a Tuesday night game in Minnesota, March 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET, at Xcel Energy Center. Toronto returns home for a Wednesday night game, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. ET, at Mattamy Athletic Centre against Boston.
Postgame Quotes:
Toronto’s Sarah Nurse on extending the win streak: “I think it’s mentality. I think we had a lot of confidence at the beginning of the season, and we weren’t able to execute necessarily. Once we switched our mentality, the little things started working for us. We weren’t focusing necessarily on the bigger picture of winning hockey games, it was the little things like stick lifting, being in good position, focusing on our concepts and our structure, really leaning into that and I think that’s really helped us these last couple of games.”
Ottawa’s Carla MacLeod on battling through a tough start: “I think it was the first period that we struggled the most in. It looked like a slower start for us. A little softer than obviously we had hoped and planned for. In the second period, we started to turn the tide and really started to take over the game. At that point, our deficit was so big. It’s hard to dig out of it in this league. I thought we gave a good effort. We didn’t stop. Our start, we didn’t love it.”
Ottawa’s Emily Clark on the team’s effort: “I’m proud of our team for our response. When stuff like that happens, you have to take a deep breath and reset. Emerance (Maschmeyer) has been so amazing for us. We wanted to have a big push for her. Sandie (Abstreiter) stepped in and played huge. At that point, you want to take care of your teammates and do it for them. At that point, we had no choice but to respond. If we had played 60 minutes like we did after that time out, I think the outcome might have been different today.”
Notes:
- Attendance: 8,447 – The Arena at TD Place, Ottawa, ON.
- Three Stars: 1) Natalie Spooner 2) Gabbie Hughes 3) Kristen Campbell
- Shots were tied 25-25 with Toronto leading the first period 9-4, then Ottawa outshooting Toronto 11-9 in the second period and 10-7 in the third period.
- Ottawa’s four shots is their lowest first period total of the season.
- Spooner led all players with five shots on goal – Ottawa’s Jincy Roese finished second with a season-high four shots.
- Samantha Cogan finished second on Toronto with a season-high three shots – Ottawa’s Hughes, Becca Gilmore, and Rosalie Demers also had three shots – The three shots by Demers were her first three of the season.
- Toronto was 1/2 on the powerplay – Ottawa was 0/0.
- This was Toronto’s first game without a penalty – Also the first time Ottawa’s league-leading powerplay was not given an opportunity in a game this season.
- Toronto scored a powerplay goal for the second straight game and is now 12.2% on the PP.
- Spooner snapped a three-game scoreless drought with her fourth multi-point game of the season and ranks third in PWHL scoring with 13 points.
- Victoria Bach recorded her first two-assist game and has four points in her last four games.
- Renata Fast has recorded two assists in back-to-back games.
- Sarah Nurse recorded two assists for the first time this season and has back-to-back multi-point games.
- Toronto’s Emma Maltais and Blayre Turnbull both picked up assists to extend their point streaks to three games.
- Hughes has scored in back-to-back games for Ottawa.
- Kateřina Mrázová picked up an assist to extend her point streak to four games.
- Hughes, Mrázová, and Emily Clark all had single points to move into a four-way tie with Lexie Adzija for the Ottawa lead in scoring with eight points.
- Ottawa’s Savannah Harmon led all skaters in time on ice with 28:20 – Fast led Toronto at 25:23.
- Toronto’s five goals matches their season-high set Feb. 14 against Boston.
- Toronto is the first team to score three goals in the second period this season.
- Toronto’s seven game win streak includes a victory over every other PWHL team in regulation.
- Toronto (6-3-0-5) now has 24 points in second place in the PWHL standings, three behind first place Montréal and two ahead of third place Minnesota.
- Ottawa (4-0-4-6) has 16 points, tied with New York for fifth place, and two points behind Boston.
- Ottawa’s crowd of 8,447 is their highest for a home game this season at TD Place.
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