Without their top two scorers from last season, the Toronto Sceptres have had to put together wins and points with contributions from throughout the lineup. Daryl Watts has been a key performer in the last 12 games with 13 points, and she had a five-game point streak which was (briefly) halted against Boston, but picked up again to make it points in seven out of the last eight games.
Sarah Nurse is injured and on LTIR and will miss at least the next two games on the team’s road trip, and Natalie Spooner was out until recently when she returned for two games, but also was held out of the team’s recent game versus Ottawa in the Edmonton stop of the Takeover Tour.
In that win in Edmonton, Watts was the first star, scoring two goals including the overtime game winner.
In her self-deprecating manner, Watts described the OT goal this way:
“[Hannah] Miller she's incredible, she took it into the zone and kind of slingshotted me a bit and then I just got around their D then Maschmeyer kind of cut off the short side so I thought I'd try to wrap it and worked.”
She’s continuing to demonstrate that her offensive game is elite, and the goals she provides have been crucial to the Sceptres gaining points and moving up in the standings in the last two weeks.
Coach Troy Ryan was effusive in his praise for Watts after a recent win:
“She was outstanding tonight – every time she touched it she was dangerous, and she's cleaned up a lot of the little habits – making plays, some breakouts, chipping pucks when she has to.
“She's just playing a much more complete game. She's so dangerous when she has the puck. So if you can just combine those—I've never believed that you have to give up anything offensively to play a sound game defensively and make good decisions. And I think Daryl at this point in her career is figuring some of that stuff out.”
Adding the defensive awareness and good habits allows Watts to be trusted in tight situations when games are tied, and in the PWHL, so many games are one-goal decisions that giving Watts those minutes can be a huge difference maker. (Note that Watts was minus 3 in the Takeover Tour loss to Montreal in Vancouver, and -3 again in a loss to Boston in late January. Overall, she is still -4).
She said that she wants to be “a sponge and just soak up everything that I can.”
“Troy's obviously an incredible coach, and I feel really fortunate to be able to be coached by him and just to learn from one of the best coaches in the world is super exciting and I'm just so excited to build a relationship with him and have conversations every day about hockey.”
But scoring prowess and slippery puck handling, good hands and creativity are generally qualities that can’t be taught and which are coveted by general managers and teams across the league. Scooping up a Daryl Watts to add to a lineup that needs offense is simply an immense advantage for the Sceptres.
Overall, Watts has 18 points in 19 games this year, which is surely what GM Gina Kingsbury envisioned when she signed the former Ottawa star as a free agent this past summer. Watts was thrilled to join her hometown team, as she said at the time:
“With Daryl's offensive abilities, I think everyone knows that she has the ability to impact the game offensively, and with Natalie Spooner being out, that was very important to add some offense to our lineup, and she certainly will be able to do that here this season with us.”
When she arrived in Toronto, Watts described it this way:
“Obviously, I want to play for my hometown team, but then also my conversations with Gina and Troy were so positive, and the hockey talk was incredibly positive too. I couldn't be happier—you know, it's kind of a dream.”
And she was already well aware of the expectations placed on her, looking forward to the challenge.
“I'll do whatever I can to help this team put the puck in the net. I don't really think it's pressure. From the first time I stepped on the ice, my role has been to score goals and it’s in my blood, so it's what I expect from myself, and Gina and Troy expecting it from me is no different than any other team I've ever played on.”