OTTAWA, ON – 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.
