SAINT PAUL, MN (February 23, 2025) – The Toronto Sceptres are riding a six-game win streak following a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Sunday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center. Michela Cava opened the scoring for Minnesota on the power play to give her team an early lead at the end of the opening frame. Mid-way through the second period, Toronto capitalized on the advantage resulting from a five-minute major penalty, as Emma Maltais found the back of the net for Toronto’s fourth consecutive conversion on the power play, spanning across their last two games. The game remained even heading into the final period, but Jesse Compher broke the deadlock seven minutes into the third to give the Sceptres their first lead of the game.
While Minnesota tried to find the equalizer in the game’s final minutes with an extra attacker on the ice, Toronto held on to secure the win on the road. Kristen Campbell earned her third straight win in net for the Sceptres, stopping 22 of 23 shots faced, and Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney turned aside 21 of 23 shots in her 13th start of the season. Entering the game, Toronto and Minnesota sat in a tie for second place with 29 points apiece––the Sceptres now pull three points ahead with today’s win and are now in sole possession of second place with 32 points, two points behind first-place Montréal. Minnesota slides down to third place, just one point ahead of fourth-place Boston.
QUOTES
Toronto defender Savannah Harmon on finding her offensive game: “It’s been nice to settle in, and the group has just made it so incredibly easy. It’s fun when I’m able to contribute, but at the same time, just sticking to the game plan and doing whatever I can to help the team.”
Sceptres Head Coach Troy Ryan on what he liked about the game: “I like that as a group they found a way to win a hockey game – a pretty sloppy game – finding a way to win. We’ve been on the road here for a little while, so at this point in our trip to grind one out, it feels good.”
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee: “We just gotta figure out a way to bury pucks. We had lots of looks and we had lots of chances, obviously we made the one mistake where they made us pay for it. I liked our game; I liked our jump – we just have to figure out ways to finish. They’re a good team, they play hard, and we know it’s going to be tight.”
Minnesota forward Taylor Heise: – “I think we did what we had to do. On our rushes we didn’t get as many two on ones/three on twos as we wanted. That just happens when you get the pucks up quick. All in all, I think we did a really good job; the first minutes of the game we were rolling, and they didn’t have a single punch at us. I truly thought that we took advantage of what we needed to but, at the end of the day, you have to put puck in the net and that’s what we’re paid to do, and we have to figure it out.”
NOTABLES
Toronto now has points in nine consecutive games in addition to their six-game win streak – their longest win and point streaks of the season. All six wins during the streak have come in the month of February.
Toronto extends their league-record power play goal streak to nine straight games, with half (16/32) of the team’s goals coming on the advantage in this stretch. The Sceptres’ power play success rate now sits more than 15 percentage points above any other team (33.9%).
Kristen Campbell earned her fifth win of the season–– and her third straight––her longest win streak of the season.
Jesse Compher recorded her third multi-point game of the season – and second against Minnesota – with a goal and an assist this afternoon. The goal stood as the game-winner, Compher’s first of the season. The Sceptres forward now sits fourth in team scoring and is tied for 10th overall in the PWHL with 14 points (7G, 7A).
Savannah Harmon notched her first multi-point game of the season with two assists in the game and now has helpers in back-to-back contests.
Hayley Scamurra tallied her first point of the season, and first in a Sceptres’ uniform, assisting on the game-winning goal. The forward recorded 5G, 5A through 24 games with Ottawa last season.
Michela Cava scored her eighth goal of the season and is tied for the lead among Frost players in the category. The goal was her third on the power play this season, which is tied for third among all PWHL players. Four of Cava’s eight goals on the season have been scored against Toronto.
Emma Maltais netted her first career power play goal––her fourth marker of the season––matching her total from the inaugural season through 24 games.
Dominique Petrie tallied her second assist for her fifth point of the season (3G, 2A) and now has helpers in back-to-back games.
The win was Toronto’s first ever at Xcel Energy Center. Last season, Toronto only road win against Minnesota came at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
With their tenth of the season on the advantage, Minnesota has now doubled their power play goal total from the 2024 season.
Minnesota played a game without a player on the LTIR for the first time since Dec. 19, after announcing the return of defender Natalie Buchbinder this morning who sustained an upper-body injury on Jan. 8 against Boston.
At 7:49 of the second period, Minnesota’s Brooke McQuigge was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for a check to the head. The play was reviewed by the on-ice officials, in consultation with the PWHL Central Situation Room.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Toronto 0 1 1 - 2
Minnesota 1 0 0 - 1
1st Period-1, Minnesota, Cava 8 (Petrie), 6:20 (PP). Penalties-Hymlarova Min (boarding), 2:45; Turnbull Tor (slashing), 4:33.
2nd Period-2, Toronto, Maltais 4 (Harmon, Compher), 11:58 (PP). Penalties-Spooner Tor (hooking), 2:00; McQuigge Min (major - check to the head, game misconduct), 7:49.
3rd Period-3, Toronto, Compher 7 (Scamurra, Harmon), 7:13. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Toronto 9-8-6-23. Minnesota 7-7-9-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 1 / 3; Minnesota 1 / 2.
Goalies-Toronto, Campbell 5-5-1-1 (23 shots-22 saves). Minnesota, Rooney 7-4-1-1 (23 shots-21 saves).
Attendance: 8,770
THREE STARS
1. Jesse Compher (TOR) 1G, 1A
2. Michela Cava (MIN) 1G
3. Savannah Harmon (TOR) 2A
STANDINGS
Toronto (8-2-4-6) - 32 PTS – 2nd Place
Minnesota (6-4-3-7) - 29 PTS – 3rd Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Toronto: Tuesday, February 25 at Montréal at 7:00 p.m. ET
Minnesota: Tuesday, March 4 at Montréal at 7:00 p.m. ET