TORONTO, ON (February 1, 2025) – Toronto Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull led her team to a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Charge on Saturday afternoon, scoring two goals and an assist in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,351 at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Toronto's league-leading power play continued to dominate to break open the scoring, as Julia Gosling netted her first PWHL goal – with a primary assist from Turnbull – to give the Sceptres the lead with two minutes to go in the opening frame. Emily Clark evened the score for the Charge nearly four minutes into the second period, but Turnbull responded just three minutes later to put the Sceptres back on top. Toronto’s power play went to work once again as Renata Fast extended the lead to two, putting the Sceptres up 3-1 heading into the final frame. Turnbull added an insurance marker three minutes into the third period – her second goal and third point of the night – to put Toronto up by three. Ottawa cut their deficit in half just under four minutes later with a goal from Kateřina Mrázová, but the Charge failed to ignite a spark in the game’s final minutes, as the Sceptres held on for the win. Rookie goaltender Raygan Kirk turned aside 30 of 32 shots to secure her third win of the season in net for the Sceptres, while Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 14 of 18 shots for the Charge in her league-leading 11th start of the season. With a win heading into the international break, the Sceptres leapfrog into fourth place with points in four straight games, while Ottawa drops down into a tie for fifth place with their third straight loss.
QUOTES
Sceptres forward Julia Gosling on adjusting to the PWHL: “I think every game I’ve been adjusting and learning from the coaches and the players around me. I think I’ve been getting comfortable every game, especially on that power play I had the confidence to go and shoot it, so I think it’s just been building. Especially with us being halfway through now, I think I’m adjusting.”
Toronto Head Coach Troy Ryan on captain Blayre Turnbull’s performance of late: “I wrote down on my game card today to show the other coaches, and I just wrote down a driver of team concepts, and that’s what Blayre is. She doesn’t even necessarily have to agree with some concept or way we’re going to play. The way she approaches the game, she’s going to do it to the best of her ability because if she does, there’s more likelihood other people will follow. Ultimately, everybody can say the right things consistently over time, but people that do the right things are the ones that should get rewarded and that’s what’s happening right now for Blayre.”
Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod on her team’s overall performance: “I think there’s lots of positives in our five-on-five game. We feel that we are really getting ourselves to a level that we like. Obviously, we had a few too many turnovers at our blue line that gave high-risk chances against. We got to sort our special teams out, on both sides of it. We seem to have lost our confidence on the penalty kill. We'll re-route that one and get that sorted. Power play is getting better and better but obviously a little confidence would happen if we could pop one or two goals. All in all, it's not bad. You can't lose sight of the fact that in our first 15 games, we truly played 11 on the road. It's been a great adventure, but we get the chance to go home for the second half of the season and it's going to be our job to take advantage of that.”
Charge forward Emily Clark on the team’s focus of getting an offensive spark: “It's on us to execute and put some of those away. We had so many chances tonight. I think that's why all of us have our heads pretty high. Of course, it stinks to lose. We had a lot of opportunities to tie it and win, but I think you just have to keep going on. The only way through is getting those good looks. It's a matter of inches and just bearing down a little bit. I think the biggest change that our team has seen is just getting more shots on net in the last few games. We're going to increase our chances if we keep doing that. So, we have to do some fine-tuning to finish those plays.”
NOTABLES
Seven of Toronto’s last 10 goals, including two in this game, have come on the power play, marking three straight games where the Sceptres have scored two or more goals on the advantage. Toronto improves their power play success rate to a league-leading 28.9% -- seven percentage points above second-place New York (21.7%). With 13 power play markers so far this season, Toronto has also surpassed their goal total on the advantage from last season, when they scored 11 PPG in 24 games.
Blayre Turnbull recorded the first three-point performance of her career, and first multi-point effort in a regular-season game. The Sceptres captain scored two goals in the team’s first playoff game in a 4-0 win over Minnesota on May 8. Turnbull’s five goals this season in 15 games surpasses her inaugural season total of three goals in 24 games.
Renata Fast scored her second goal of the season for her league-leading ninth point on the power play (2G, 7A), and also extended her point streak to three games (2G, 3A). The defender ranks fifth in overall scoring with 13 points (2G, 11A) in 15 games, tying her point total in 24 games last season (3G, 10A).
Julia Gosling netted her first-ever PWHL goal for the Sceptres on her 31st career shot on goal. The tally counts as her second point on the power play and puts the Sceptres first-round pick in a tie for eighth in rookie scoring with four points (1G, 3A) in 15 games.
Kateřina Mrázová recorded a goal and an assist for her third multi-point game of the season, moving into a tie for second in Charge scoring with six points (2G, 4A). All six of her points have been recorded in a multi-point performance, including a two-assist effort against Toronto on Dec. 3 in a 3-2 Ottawa win. Mrázová also took a season-high 31 faceoffs and played 20:45 – her highest time on ice since the season-opener.
Emily Clark scored her fourth goal of the season for Ottawa, matching her goal tally through 24 games last season and tying her for the team lead in the category.
Sarah Nurse recorded her seventh assist of the season, extending her point streak to four games (2G, 3A). Four of her five points during this stretch, including today’s helper, have come on the power play (2G, 2A). The Sceptres forward is tied for second in team scoring and tied for sixth overall with 12 points (5G, 7A) in 15 games.
Daryl Watts tallied her eighth assist of the season to extend her point streak to four games (1G, 4A). The eight assists are a new career-high for the Sceptres forward who recorded seven assists in 24 games with Ottawa during the inaugural season.
Savannah Harmon recorded her first assist – and first point – of the season. The point came in her ninth game in a Sceptres uniform and against her former team. The defender was acquired by Toronto in a trade with Ottawa on Dec. 30.
Brianne Jenner recorded her fifth assist of the season, moving the Ottawa captain into a tie for second-most points on the team with six (1G, 5A).
Ronja Savolainen tallied her third assist of the season and sits tied for second-most points among Charge defenders with four (1G, 3A). Three of her four points this season have come against Toronto (1G, 2A).
Raygan Kirk’s 30 saves are her most in a winning effort. She recorded 35 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss against Montréal on Dec. 21. Kirk leads all rookie goaltenders with three wins in six starts.
Megan Carter played her first PWHL game at the Sceptres’ primary home at Coca-Cola Coliseum, recording 17:30 time on ice. Today’s game was the rookie defender’s fourth on the active roster since being activated from LTIR last Saturday.
This was Toronto’s first win of the season in six games when being outshot by their opponent, despite recording their lowest shot total of the season (18). The last time these two teams met in Toronto on Dec. 31, it was Ottawa who won with their fewest shots of the season (13).
Ottawa scored more than one goal for the first time in five games. The last time the Charge found the back of the net more than once was also against the Sceptres, in a 4-2 loss on Jan. 14.
Toronto continues to be the only team in the league without a regulation loss when scoring the game’s first goal. The Sceptres are now 3-0-2-0 when hitting the score sheet first.
Toronto extends their point streak to four games – their longest of the season – while scoring at least three goals in each of these games. The Sceptres are 2-0-2-0 during this stretch, picking up eight of 12 possible points.
The last two meetings between Ottawa and Toronto have ended in an identical 4-2 score in favour of the Sceptres, with the first coming on Jan. 14 at TD Place.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Ottawa 0 1 1 - 2
Toronto 1 2 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Toronto, Gosling 1 (Turnbull, Harmon), 19:28 (PP). Penalties-Fast Tor (roughing), 9:44; Jenner Ott (interference), 9:58; Flanagan Tor (tripping), 13:50; Larocque Ott (inter. on goaltender), 17:55.
2nd Period-2, Ottawa, Clark 4 (Mrázová, Jenner), 3:40. 3, Toronto, Turnbull 4 6:39. 4, Toronto, Fast 2 (Nurse, Watts), 16:21 (PP). Penalties-Roese Ott (illegal body checking), 16:01.
3rd Period-5, Toronto, Turnbull 5 2:48. 6, Ottawa, Mrázová 2 (Savolainen, Bell), 6:14. Penalties-Fast Tor (holding opp. stick), 0:46; Maltais Tor (illegal body checking), 14:23.
Shots on Goal-Ottawa 10-8-14-32. Toronto 5-11-2-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Ottawa 0 / 4; Toronto 2 / 3.
Goalies-Ottawa, Maschmeyer 4-6-0-1 (18 shots-14 saves). Toronto, Kirk 3-1-1-1 (32 shots-30 saves).
A-8,351 (sell out)
THREE STARS
1. Blayre Turnbull (TOR) 2G, 1A
2. Raygan Kirk (TOR) 30/32 SV
3. Kateřina Mrázová (OTT) 1G, 1A
STANDINGS
Toronto (5-0-4-6) - 19 PTS – 4th Place
Ottawa (5-0-2-8) - 17 PTS – 5th Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Toronto: Tuesday, February 11 vs. Minnesota at 7 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Thursday, February 13 vs. Minnesota at 7 p.m. ET