The Toronto Sceptres finally won in overtime, with Natalie Spooner, who has not lost a step back in the lineup. Here are three takeaways from Toronto's OT win over Minnesota.
The Toronto Sceptres finally won in overtime, with Natalie Spooner, who has not lost a step back in the lineup. Here are three takeaways from Toronto's OT win over Minnesota.
The Toronto Sceptres returned home after the international break with a win defeating the Minnesota frost 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Here are three takeaways from the Sceptres win.
Spooner Hasn’t Lost A Step
After being on the Sceptres LTIR for eight months, Natalie Spooner made her much anticipated return to ice last night and she didn’t miss a step.
"It was awesome. It was definitely an adjustment and I think it will take a few games to get really back feeling like myself,” said Spooner. “To just get out there with the girls to get that win felt really good. So excited for the next one."
Spooner didn’t take long to make her presence felt as just three minutes into the game she had a wide open net and rang it off the far post.
With the Sceptres only generating five shots in the period, the former MVP had most of Toronto’s scoring chances in the period.
The chemistry between Hannah Miller and Spooner from last season also picked up right where it left off, as the two were routinely finding each other with passes and playing to each other's strengths.
“I loved playing with her last season. I think that she was one of the best passers on our team and was setting me up, but this year she scoring all of the goals, so I think I gotta be the one passing to her now, said Spooner. “She's an amazing player, so I know she's gonna, bury those pucks, win battles, and make plays. She's a lot of fun to play with.”
Late in the second period Spooner once again hit the post, but this time Hannah Miller was there to tap in the loose puck to get the Sceptres on the board and the former MVP her first point of the season.
The Sceptres will need Spooner to find her MVP caliber game again, especially with the absence of Sarah Nurse to the lineup.
Rush Chances Hurt Sceptres
The Minnesota Frost were able to find a lot of their success offensively off the rush Tuesday night.
The Sceptres were able to limit the Frost chances when they controlled the puck for long periods of time, but on quick breaks they struggled as both of their goals were on odd woman rushes.
The Frost’s first goal came off of a bad offensive zone turnover that allowed them to break out onto a three-on-one opportunity where Sophie Jaques capitalized to give Minnesota the early lead.
Their second goal again was a breakaway chance in which Brooke McQuigge fired a shot just between Raygan Kirk's shoulder and the crossbar to extend the lead to two early in the second period.
This also allowed the Frost to gain multiple high danger opportunities in overtime, but Kirk stood on her head for four minutes and thirty seconds to keep the Sceptres alive.
Renata Fast Ends Toronto’s Overtime Curse
For four minutes and fifty seconds the Frost dominated the Sceptres in overtime, making it look at times like Toronto would still have to wait longer for their first overtime win.
Luckily for them, the sea parted for Renata Fast, allowing her to walk in on a breakaway with less than ten seconds to go. Fast went forehand and backhand and slid the puck just past Nicole Hensley’s pads to win the game.
“I actually had no idea the time on the clock, but yeah, I was just telling them that I've had a couple breakaways and other times where I've shot the puck over the net,” said Fast. “I just went in telling myself, don't shoot over the net and that's what happened.”
The goal continues Fast’s offensive explosion this month as she has notched a point in four straight games.
The addition of Megan Carter has really taken the load off of Fast and has allowed her to be able to be more offensively minded when she plays.