EDMONTON, AB (February 17, 2025) – Daryl Watts scored her second goal of the game to give the Toronto Sceptres a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Charge in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,518 at Sunday’s PWHL Takeover Tour game at Rogers Place in Edmonton. With the victory, the Sceptres extended their winning streak to four games, propelling the team into a tie for second place in the PWHL standings with Minnesota. Less than four minutes into the first, Gabbie Hughes opened the scoring for the Charge with a power play goal, giving Ottawa a 1-0 lead, which they held for the remainder of the opening frame. In the final four minutes of the second period, Toronto recorded two consecutive power play tallies–– from Watts and Julia Gosling respectively–– giving the Sceptres their first lead of the game with 24 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Responding early in the third, Ottawa forward Tereza Vanišová tied the game at two with the game’s fourth power play tally.
Watts’ game-winner came 51 seconds into the overtime period –– forward Hannah Miller, who was celebrating her 29th birthday, recorded her third assist of the afternoon on the goal. Alberta native Emerance Maschmeyer made 31 saves on 34 shots for Ottawa while Toronto’s Raygan Kirk stopped 33 of 35, the rookie’s fifth win of the season.
QUOTES
Sceptres forward Daryl Watts on her continuing hot streak: “This is such a cool experience for all of us. It’s not every day that you get to play in an NHL rink - especially this one, it’s so beautiful and the crowd was electric, so it’s hard not to get incredibly excited and pumped up to play in this atmosphere.”
Toronto Head Coach Troy Ryan on changing the pace and the power play: “Out power play the last number of games – probably the last seven or eight – has been really hot. We know also that if we work and compete hard 5-on-5 we will draw penalties, and that’s what maybe in the first period we were getting away from. Maybe not drawing the types of penalties we wanted. We knew that if we played the right way, we’d overextend some people to have to take penalties against us. Right now, the power play is confident, finding ways to contribute and they’ve done a great job.”
Charge goalie Emerance Maschmeyer on being back home and playing in the Oilers’ rink. “It’s unbelievable. Waking up this morning and realizing that we were going to be playing here, it really felt like a home game for Danielle Serdachny, Stephanie Markowski and me. We played in front of our friends and family, some coaches and people we went to school with. I could never imagine myself playing a pro game here in Edmonton. That was special.”
Ottawa defender Stephanie Markowski on playing in front of a group of 50 family members and hearing the “we want a team” chants from fans. “To play here in front of family that hasn’t seen me play live in close to seven years, it was a very special feeling for me. I’m just really proud to be here. For the signs and chants, I think it shows that the women’s game is growing. Looking up at all those girls and boys with those signs, it just shows how far we’ve gone.”
NOTABLES
Daryl Watts recorded her first multi-goal game of the season and third multi-point effort in her last six contests, powered by a career-high eight shots on goal. Her overtime goal was both her first game-winner of the season and the first overtime goal of her PWHL career. Watts now sits sixth in league scoring with 15 points (6G, 9A) in 18 games.
Hannah Miller recorded her first career three-point game (3A), setting a career-high assist total with 10 on the season, exceeding her 23-game assist total of seven during the inaugural season. The Sceptres forward now leads the league in scoring with 18 points (8G, 10A) in 18 games.
Gabbie Hughes scored her first power play goal of the season and tallied a power play assist, beginning a two-game multi-point streak. The Charge forward has recorded five points (3G, 2A) in her last two games, bringing her season point total to seven (3G, 4A) through 16 games played.
Julia Gosling scored her second goal of the season with both tallies being scored against Ottawa on the power play–– the other goal was recorded on Feb. 1, 2025.
Tereza Vanišová’s third period tally gives her four goals in her last two games played. The Ottawa forward is now tied with Miller for second in the PWHL in goals, with eight.
Renata Fast tallied two assists and is now leading all PWHL defenders in both points (16) and assists (12). She is also tied for fourth in league scoring among all skaters.
Jincy Roese tallied her sixth assist of the season, beginning a two-game assist streak and exceeding her 24-game assist total from the inaugural season (5).
Jocelyne Larocque recorded her third assist with the Charge since being traded by the Sceptres on Dec. 30, 2024–– her first point against her former team.
Jesse Compher recorded a point for her second straight game, bringing her season total to 12 (6G, 6A), tied for fourth overall among Toronto skaters.
Emily Clark recorded an assist to extend her point streak to three-games (1G, 3A).
Laura Kluge made her Sceptres debut, clocking 3:52 on ice. She arrived at Rogers Place wearing the jersey of fellow German hockey star Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.
Charge Head Coach and Alberta native Carla MacLeod wore an Edmonton Chimos sweater during the game in honor of the province’s trailblazing women’s hockey team.
For the first time this season, all goals scored in regulation were power play markers. Toronto has scored at least one power play goal in seven straight games and lead the league with 17 goals on the advantage, converting at a 31.5% success rate. Ottawa scored two goals on the power play for the first time this season and have converted in consecutive games to double their power play goal total to six.
Ottawa tallied 17 shots in the first period, the highest single-period total for the Charge this season, while Toronto’s 19 in the second period marked their highest single-period total this campaign.
The Charge remain the only PWHL team without a win beyond regulation (0-3).
Ottawa will play in the seventh stop of the PWHL Takeover Tour in Raleigh vs. Minnesota on Mar. 7 and the ninth and final stop, in St. Louis, against Boson on Mar. 29.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Toronto 0 2 0 1 - 3
Ottawa 1 0 1 0 - 2
1st Period-1, Ottawa, Hughes 3 (Roese, Larocque), 3:48 (PP). Penalties-Compher Tor (slashing), 2:48; Fast Tor (tripping), 17:57.
2nd Period-2, Toronto, Watts 5 (Miller, Fast), 15:54 (PP). 3, Toronto, Gosling 2 (Compher, Miller), 19:36 (PP). Penalties-Larocque Ott (hooking), 4:36; Larocque Ott (hooking), 14:44; Fast Tor (hooking), 17:05; Tejralová Ott (hooking), 19:08.
3rd Period-4, Ottawa, Vanišová 8 (Clark, Hughes), 4:10 (PP). Penalties-Connors Tor (hooking), 2:59; Woods Tor (cross checking, roughing), 5:13; Savolainen Ott (roughing), 5:13; Jenner Ott (tripping), 7:21; MacKinnon Tor (cross checking), 15:01; Darkangelo Ott (cross checking), 16:34.
1st OT Period-5, Toronto, Watts 6 (Miller, Fast), 0:51. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Toronto 2-19-12-1-34. Ottawa 17-5-13-0-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 2 / 5; Ottawa 2 / 6.
Goalies-Toronto, Kirk 5-1-1-1 (35 shots-33 saves). Ottawa, Maschmeyer 5-6-1-1 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-17,518
THREE STARS
1. Daryl Watts (TOR) 2G
2. Gabbie Hughes (OTT) 1G, 1A
3. Jesse Compher (TOR) 1A
STANDINGS
Toronto (6-2-4-6) - 26 PTS – 2nd Place (Tied)
Ottawa (6-0-3-8) - 21 PTS – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Toronto: Wednesday, February 19 at New York at 7 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Thursday, February 20 vs Boston at 7 p.m. ET