Nurse has three goals in two games since returning from injury. It's become clear that for the Vancouver Goldeneyes, Sarah Nurse may have been the missing ingredient in their chemistry.
Words can’t describe the impact that Sarah Nurse has had on the Vancouver Goldeneyes since returning to the lineup. Just ask Head Coach Brian Idalski.
“I don’t know if there are enough compliments for the difference she makes, not only in the locker room, but her hockey IQ is so smart,” he said on Thursday night after Vancouver’s dominant 5–0 win against the Toronto Sceptres on home ice. “I’ve referred to her as a player-coach a few times already, because it’s made such a huge difference with how she talks to people and holds people accountable and brings great energy.”
Nurse’s presence was felt even before her two-goal outburst in Vancouver’s dominant Thursday-night performance against her former team. Prior to her return to the lineup on January 17, the forward participated in her first full practice since being injured on November 21. Even then, donning a blue practice jersey and with a wide smile on her face, Nurse was finding the back of the net against her teammates.
“She was looking incredible in practice today, had a couple nice goals. What else is new?” Goldeneyes' goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer joked at the time.
Nurse’s return came at a time when Vancouver was in desperate need of some goals. They’d just been shut out for the third time this season with a 1–0 loss against the Montréal Victoire and had a league-worst 21 goals-for since their home opener. Offense had become such an issue for the Goldeneyes that they ended up completing the biggest trade in PWHL history, acquiring speedy play-drivers in Mannon McMahon, Anna Shokhina, and Anna Meixner from the Ottawa Charge.
Literally and figuratively, Vancouver looked like a completely different team on Thursday night. The very speed they’d hoped to embody with their new acquisitions? Present. Heavy forecheck and hard drives towards the net? Present. An outpouring of goals? Present.
And Nurse was at the helm for it all.
Flanked by a set of new linemates in Tereza Vanišová and Michelle Karvinen, Nurse was welcomed back to the Coliseum with cheers from the 14,006 fans in attendance. Those cheers continued when Nurse fired a seeing-eye shot off the rush past Sceptres' goaltender Elaine Chuli, before potting another one to deepen Vancouver’s lead to four.
“Vibes are really high. We haven’t been home in a very long time, and so we definitely felt the energy from the crowd. But I think that was just an all-around team, unreal game. We completely stuck to our game plan,” Nurse said of the team's performance after the game.
Credit @ PWHLClearly, Nurse’s goal-scoring rubbed off. Vanišová, who’d been waiting on her first goal as a member of the Goldeneyes, finally found the back of the net after circling around Toronto’s net and forcing her wraparound past Chuli.
“We complement each other. I’m trying to forecheck really hard for [them] to get the puck. And, obviously, Nursey can score goals. She got like, two shots on the net [and] two goals. That’s pretty impressive,” Vanišová said of her linemates post-game.
“She’s been grinding this entire season, and for her to finally put that one in, I think it meant a lot to our team, but obviously to her as well inside,” Nurse added regarding Vanišová’s goal.
Led by Nurse’s dynamic energy, as well as what appears to be a powerful new line made up of three high-calibre Olympians, the Goldeneyes will now set their sights on stringing together a couple of more wins before the league pauses for Olympic play in February.