Takeaways: Spooner's Real Return, Depth

The Toronto Sceptres made a statement in their  long awaited return to Coca Cola Arena, by beating the league leading Montreal Victoire 4-1. 

Allie Munroe, Maggie Connors and Renata Fast all contributed goals in Toronto’s win. 

Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game. 

Ever since returning from the LTIR Natalie Spooner hasn’t been able to put the puck in the net. 

It hasn’t been for a lack of trying, as in her first game back she had three quality chances, including a shot that hit the crossbar. 

She finally got the monkey off her back Thursday night. Early in the first period, Spooner redirected a pass from Julia Gosling past Elaine Chuli to get the Sceptres on the board first. 

“I'm just trying to do the right things out there and get to the net front where I'm good,” said Spooner. “I hit the post at first and I was like, Oh man, just my luck and then I was able to get the rebound luckily. It felt nice to get that one.”

Spooner went on to score another goal in typical Spooner fashion, tipping a Renata Fast shot from the point. 

The two goals were Spooner's first since May 8th, when she scored the Sceptres first goal of the playoffs. 

It will add that much more of a threat to this lineup if Spooner can continue to contribute offensively down the stretch at the pace she did last season. 

The Toronto Sceptres offense was given a jolt in the second period by an unlikely duo. 

Eight minutes into the period, Allie Munroe capitalized on a rebound opportunity as she shot a backhand past Chuli for her first of the season. 

A minute later an outlet pass from Daryl Watts sprung Maggie Connors on a breakaway. She would go from her forehand to her backhand and raise the puck over Chuli’s shoulder to extend the Sceptres lead to three. 

The goal was Connors' first time scoring in 11 games and second of the season. 

Toronto’s ability to regularly get contributions from their bottom six has been a key to their turnaround this season. 

With highly skilled players all throughout the lineup, the Sceptres will be scary if they can all click at the same time. 

The power play and penalty kill were the driving force behind the Sceptres' win over the Victoire. 

Toronto was perfect on the penalty kill last night despite taking a season high six penalties. 

The effectiveness of their penalty kill has allowed them to play a physical game without being worried about stepping over the line from time to time. 

This was highlighted by their ability to kill off a Montreal five-on-three early in the third period after Hayley Scamurra took a tripping penalty. 

The power play, like it has the entire second half, continued to capitalize on their opponent's mistakes and careless plays. 

The Sceptres scored on two of their power play opportunities last night making the Victoire pay for taking reckless checking penalties. 

With their impressive run the Sceptres' power play sits first in the league sitting at 33%, while their penalty kill sits fourth at 79%.