Toronto was resilient, and got scoring from their depth, but couldn't overcome Minnesota at home. Here are three key takeaways from the Sceptres' most recent home loss.
Toronto was resilient, and got scoring from their depth, but couldn't overcome Minnesota at home. Here are three key takeaways from the Sceptres' most recent home loss.
The Toronto Sceptres failed to finish the track meet on top as they lost 6-3 to the Minnesota Frost at Coca Cola Coliseum on Saturday.
Goals from Jesse Compher, Victoria Bach, and Daryl Watts led the way for the Sceptres in the loss.
Here are three key takeaways from the game.
Toronto continues to be resilient
Despite allowing their opponents to score the first goal in all three of their games this season, the Toronto Sceptres have repeatedly shown that they can respond, but so far this season it hasn’t been enough.
“I think we didn't have a good first ten minutes, so we're down one, just like in the Ottawa game, we don't have a good first five minutes, you're down in that one,” said head coach Troy Ryan. “It's just something we gotta look at a bit more internally to see why that's happening.”
Minnesota’s Claire Butorac kept the streak going tapping in the second rebound opportunity past Kristen Campbell, giving Minnesota the lead just three minutes into the first period.
The Sceptres’ Jesse Compher evened things up just seven minutes later as she fired a shot bar down through the arm of Maddie Rooney.
After Compher’s game tying goal, the Sceptres found life going on to lead 8-4 in shots over the Frost to finish off the period.
Both the Sceptres and Frost exchanged goals six times in the first two periods of the game alone.
Ultimately it would be the Frost that got the last laugh as three unanswered goals in the third period would help them pull away.
“I thought that the way the end of that second period went with us scoring a goal and getting high and then them scoring a goal, I think that's ultimately where the game was won for them and lost for us,” said Troy Ryan. “We weren’t able to rebound and respond from that shift in momentum and a lot of times that costs you a game.”
Through three games Toronto has been outshot 19-11 by their opponents in the first period. Something Ryan admits needs to be changed moving forward.
Depth scoring holds Sceptres In
In Toronto’s highest scoring game of the season it was the bottom of the lineup that came up big for the Sceptres.
After Compher scored her first goal of the season, Victoria Bach tied the game at two for the Sceptres, tipping a Renata Fast shot from the point beating Rooney.
“Renata found me there and I think getting in front of the goalie's eyes, being able to pick up a couple dirty goals like that, they all count, " said Victoria Bach. “So I think it's really important that we're keeping them in their zone and getting those shots off.”
Bach, Compher, and Watts all scored their first goal of the season, bringing the number of players with a goal this season up to seven for the Sceptres. This leads the PWHL with Minnesota and Ottawa tied for second with six.
With the absence of top scorer Natalie Spooner, it is a good sign for Toronto that they are finding scoring throughout their lineup and taking advantage of the dirty areas, something that was a key to their success last season.
Goals around the net cost Sceptres
The Toronto Sceptres had a hard time controlling the puck and play of Minnesota around Kristen Campbell.
Many instances, especially in the first period, saw the Frost getting second and third cracks at loose pucks, with them ultimately ending up in the back of the net.
Both Claire Butorac’s goal to start the game and Dominique Petrie goal in the second saw the Frost converge on the net and come up with the bouncing puck while Sceptres defenders could not manage to clear the puck.
Of Minnesota’s six goals, four of them came within a couple of feet of the crease, taking a page out of the Toronto Sceptres playbook and it worked wonders for the Frost.
Toronto allowed the Frost to get 14 of the team's 36 shots in a high danger area. Six of those were around the crease.
Toronto will look to end their two game slide next Saturday as they take on the Montreal Victoire at Coca-Cola Coliseum.