Three Takeaways: It Was A Toronto Loss With Lessons To Learn

A slow start and turnovers cost the Toronto Sceptres as they lost 3-2 to the Ottawa Charge in the nation's capital Tuesday evening.

Izzy Daniel scored her first PWHL goal while Sarah Nurse had a goal and an assist for the Sceptres.

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

If it hadn't been for a terrific performance from Kristen Campbell, the Ottawa Charge would have had a much larger lead in the game.

Campbell put on a show at TD Place in her second game of the season. When the Sceptres' sloppy breakout attempts turned into Ottawa Charge scoring chances, Campbell routinely bailed them out.

In the second period, Campbell had three game-changing sequences including a cross-crease sliding save against Ronja Savolainen.

This was just one of the 28 saves Campbell stopped for the Sceptres. Overall, Campbell faced 31 shots, 15 of which were in a high-danger scoring area.

Two of Ottawa’s three goals came within a foot of the crease where they routinely had opportunities and found success.

Once again the Sceptres came out of the gates slow. Toronto was repeatedly beaten in the foot races for the puck and had trouble breaking out of their own end.

Toronto allowed their opponents to score first for the second straight game, as a stretch pass from former Sceptre Alexa Vasko set up Mannon McMahon to tap in the game's first goal.

“I thought a lot of our play was sloppy, disconnected, and uninspiring to be honest,” said Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan. “I would have liked to see a little bit more compete and composure at times, so it’s frustrating, but nothing to get too stressed about, it’s only game two.”

The Sceptres could also not generate offensive opportunities early. Before their first power play chance of the period, Toronto only managed one shot on Emerance Maschmeyer.

After finding the score sheet in Toronto’s home opener, Sarah Nurse continued to drive the offensive efforts for the Sceptres.

Nurse opened the scoring for Toronto in the first period, tipping a Hannah Miller shot from the point to tie the game at 1-1.

Nurse found her way back to the score sheet in the second period. This time she fired a shot on Maschmeyer creating a rebound for Izzy Daniel to tap in.

Nurse’s two-point performance earned her third star of the game.

In her first two games of the season Nurse leads the Sceptres in points with three. She will look to stay hot heading into Saturday’s match against the Minnesota Frost.