TAKEAWAYS
There will be no losing streak to start the year like a season ago for the Toronto Sceptres.
A 3-1 win over the Boston Fleet with an empty net goal took care of that for the home side.
But there were plenty of moments from that Season 1 that played into the outcome of Saturday’s game.
DEALING WITH THE LULLS
Admit it. About the second period after Toronto had drawn even on a Sarah Nurse short-handed goal, the first jailbreak goal of this PWHL season, you were feeling pretty good about Toronto’s situation.
Then they drew a couple of minors on consecutive Boston penalties and you were feeling that much better. Then, even with a good chunk of a two-player advantage, Toronto failed to take control. They took shot after shot towards the Boston net, buzzing around it constantly but either Aerin Frankel was there to stone them or their shots weren’t getting through. Over the length of the 5-on-3, Boston blocked a total of five shots.
At that point those earlier positive thoughts quickly shifted to whether this team can withstand a start without leading goal scorer and reigning league MVP Natalie Spooner in the lineup?
It’s the nature of sports fandom. At one moment your team is on top of the world and the next you’re wondering if they will ever score again.
That kind of roller coaster thinking can seep into a team too, but the Sceptres have been down that road before. They weren’t going there again.
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This team learned a number of lessons in perseverance last season, not the least of which is a poor few minutes doesn’t necessarily have to mean a poor first game.
Toronto came out perhaps a little too passive in the first period, but as the game progressed they got better each period.
That missed opportunity in the second could have spiralled into something bigger but they didn’t let it, instead buckling down defensively until their next break came.
Toronto was outshot 12-9 in the first period and then outshot Boston 34-7 over the next two frames, including allowing just a single shot to the visitors for the entire final period.
Toronto spent a good part of the first six weeks of last year’s season learning how to deal with tough times.
One could see just how comfortable they are this year staying the course and rallying after a tough time or two.
WATTS IS FOR REAL
A big part of the offence that has to be replaced with Spooner sidelined is going to come from Toronto native and former Ottawa Charge standout Daryl Watts, but it won’t be her alone. Watts is playing on a line with Sarah Nurse and rookie Izzy Daniel. All three possess the kind of Hockey IQ that makes any coach worth their salt smile. And believe us, Troy Ryan did a lot of smiling watching that trio perform Saturday afternoon.
Watts didn’t score but she set up Nurse’s short-handed marker on a set play started by Rylind MacKinnon. MacKinnon corralled the puck behind her own net and rifled one around the opposite boards. Watts retrieved it just above the hash marks and gave it another swat up the boards to Nurse who had taken off toward the Boston zone as soon as she won the draw to MacKinnon. Nurse was in behind the Boston defence when the puck reached her and while fighting off a check from behind got a shot off on Frankel before jamming home her own rebound.
Watts also set up Hannah Miller’s game winner on the power play as her shot towards Frankel rebounded directly to Miller on the other side of the ice. All Miller had to do was hit the open cage.
“I really enjoyed the line,” Ryan said. “A lot of Nurse’s offence comes from being in a really strong defensive position. She’s always re-loading above and forcing turnovers. Obviously every time Watts touches the puck, there is usually something there offensively. The speed she can attack defenders with, well there are just very few people that can play offensively like Daryl and then Izzy, for her first game, the way she managed her game … she’s smart positionally, makes smart line changes, and sees the ice really well so I think they all just complement each other really well.”
That line will be leaned on heavily until Spooner, who is skating almost daily, returns.
BUT DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE POWER LINE
Size and a willingness to go into dirty areas on the ice (areas most likely to draw a defender’s attention in a physical sense) is and has been a big part of Spooner’s success in hockey.
In her absence, Ryan has put together a line made up of three players who at least play similar to the way Spooner does when she’s rolling.
The line — rookie Julia Gosling, Miller and Jesse Compher — is a trio with the best combination of size, talent and strength.
“That line is fun,” Miller said. “Some big bodies and kind of everyone who is willing to go into any area of the ice so I think it works well and we’ll look to build off what we had today.”
Compher was singled out by Ryan for having what he thought was one of her best games since she came into the league. “Nothing magical. Just simple little plays, but again, pucks on net and making good decisions with the puck.”