The Toronto Sceptres dropped a 2–1 decision to the Montréal Victoire in a shootout Wednesday night in Halifax, with Marie-Philip Poulin scoring the only goal of a 10-round shootout.
The game marked the opening stop of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour and was played in front of an enthusiastic crowd, buoyed by strong Nova Scotia ties on both benches and on the ice. Blayre Turnbull and Allie Munroe represented the home province for Toronto, while both head coaches (Troy Ryan and Kori Cheverie) are Nova Scotia natives.
Toronto opened the scoring just three-and-a-half minutes into the first period when former Victoire defender Anna Kjellbin finished a pass from Clara van Wieren for her first regular-season PWHL goal. Montréal answered later in the frame, tying the game at 12:16 when a loose puck in front was poked home by rookie Maya Labad.
The Sceptres carried play for long stretches, outshooting Montréal 28–17 through two periods, but ran into penalty trouble late in the first and into the second. Toronto took four consecutive minor penalties during that span and successfully killed them all off to keep the game level.
Blayre Turnbull nearly ended the game in regulation, getting a stick on a lofted pass with one second remaining but was unable to poke it past Ann-Renée Desbiens. In the extra frame, Emma Maltais broke in and scored on a play that would have been the game-winner, but the goal was waved off almost immediately due to an interference call on Renata Fast. Neither team scored in overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
"I think any time Toronto and Montreal play, it's always a really high paced, highly competitive game," said Turnbull.
"We actually just played Montreal right before the international break, and it was honestly a really terrible game for our team. So I think we were really proud of the way we responded tonight. We stuck to our game plan. It would have been nice for us to get the win. I think our penalty kill did a great job of showing up big for us tonight. But yeah, I think our game was much improved from the last time we played against Montreal."
Sceptres’ Storylines
Toronto generated much of the five-on-five pressure and spent extended time in the offensive zone, but was unable to convert its territorial advantage into a decisive goal.
Daryl Watts was consistently involved throughout the game, creating chances and driving play at both ends of the ice.
Kiara Zanon, elevated to the second line, looked comfortable alongside Blayre Turnbull and Jesse Compher, while the fourth line of Clara Van Wieren, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Emma Woods provided steady, energetic shifts.
On the blue line, Ella Shelton had a strong two-way performance, stifling Victoire skaters, and jumping in on offense at multiple times.
Despite the shootout loss, the Sceptres earned a point in a tightly contested, emotionally charged game that was a strong kickoff for the Takeover Tour.