PWHL Toronto has several issues to iron out as Curtis Martin writes. They'll enter their game against Boston with shuffled lines and question marks in net.
Wednesday night will see two teams still trying to find their identity face-off. For PWHL Toronto, this comes off of the back of a slow start where they have gone 1-3, while dropping both of their games at the Mattemy Athletic Centre.
As for Boston, the team has only played two games so far this season due to a game cancellation. This has given them a smaller sampling for head coach Courtney Kessel to test out their lines. Despite this, her side has looked strong with a 1-1 record, only losing to the top team in the league, Minnesota, 3-2.
Here are some notes before tonight’s upcoming game.
Who should start in net for Toronto?
In Toronto's 5-1 loss to Ottawa, head coach Troy Ryan decided to pull his starting goaltender Kristen Campbell after allowing three goals (two on the power play) in the first period. This came as Campbell is the only goalie in the league this year to start four games for her team. The question becomes even more difficult to answer when Eric Howe allowed two more goals, the first being one she would like to have back.
When asked Ryan wouldn’t give the reporters any sense of what direction he was going to go.
“It’s not automatic,” said Ryan when asked if Campbell would get the start. “It's something we haven't decided yet. We're gonna discuss it, it's just something that you gotta look at all angles the time of the year.”
It's likely that Campbell will get the start against Boston because she has not been Toronto's main problem this season. Campbell has faced a large volume of shots from high-scoring areas and scenarios throughout the season. This, plus Howe's performance last Saturday makes it likely Campbell will get the nod once again.
Toronto lines are thrown in the blender
For Toronto heading into this game, two changes are necessary to get them back in the win column. The first is to find ways to create chances and score. Toronto thus far has averaged 1.25 goals a game, forcing Ryan to throw his lines in the blender heading into the matchup with Boston.
One of the most interesting changes seen during practice this week was Sarah Nurse moving to center and Blayre Turnbull being taken off the team's top line.
“I put Nurse in the middle because we need her to be more active in the play and more involved,” said Ryan. “I think sometimes putting someone in the middle gets them down low and engaged in the defensive side of the game usually gets the more pucks.”
In the four games that Turnbull and Nurse have played together this year, they have been a minus-four, while Turnbull is still looking for her first point of the season. Shifting them makes sense on many different levels. This allows the team to be stronger down the middle while also pairing Turnbull with the pittbull Emma Maltais who will surely be able to create on the forecheck with her physicality and help Turnbull and her drought.
Can the big names get going
As for Boston, it will be interesting to see if they can get their top offensive weapons going against Toronto in Hilary Knight and Alina Muller.
While they have only played two games, both Muller and Knight have not found the back of the net this season. Knight to this point hasn’t registered a single point this season.
If Boston plans to be the offensive force many would believe they’d be, both of these players need to start getting involved offensively. If they do what their resumes suggest they will, this team a force to be reckoned with and a challenging matchup for any team to manage.