New York shutout Toronto in the inaugural PWHL game. Curtis Martin provides his takeaway's from the opening game at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
New York shutout Toronto in the inaugural PWHL game. Curtis Martin provides his takeaway's from the opening game at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
TORONTO, ON -- Missed chances and defensive oversights lead to PWHL Toronto dropping their inaugural game 4-0 to New York.
Alex Carpenter’s goal and assist plus Corinne Schroeder's historic 29-save shutout helped lift New York in a sold-out Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Here are my takeaways from the game.
Toronto’s power play couldn't get going
Toronto could not find any consistency in their power play this afternoon going 0-for-4 during the game. This came to a head in the late stages of the third period where Toronto gained a five-on-three power play for 1:14 looking to score their first goal of the season. Despite this advantage, Toronto could not get a single shot to the net as the New York players routinely blocked shot attempts toward the goal.
“We have to just have a better-shot mentality," said Troy Ryan. “We need to get pucks through and get traffic to the net and they were just hesitant tonight”
Toronto’s top power play unit in the first game featured first-time pro Maggie Connors, Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull and Renata Fast. Ryan told the media that they generally run with four forwards on the top power play and a more traditional second unit with two blueliners.
Missed opportunities
Despite the zero goals that show up in the box score, it is important to recognize that Toronto did have many high-quality scoring opportunities throughout the game. The lack of a shooting mentality resulted in Toronto squandering those chances when they came.
For example, in the first period, Maggie Connors and Natalie Spooner broke out on a two-on-one but could not find a clean opportunity as the shot was blocked and left Spooner with a chance up close that Scheoder easily handled.
Toronto had 29 shots overall in their first game but could not find a way to put a puck in the net. Ryan said that he feels like this team needs to look more for the gritty goals in front of the net, a thought echoed by Connors.
“In terms of our perspective, we need to get more people net front, we need to get more shoots on net and be consistent with that for 60 minutes,” Connors said.
Schroeder shuts the door
Corinne Schroeder was a difference-maker for New York. After the first period where she only faced eight shots, Toronto upped theoir game and dominated in the second, but so did Schroeder as she stopped all 16 shots she faced to keep the team's 1-0 lead heading into the third.
“She kept us in the game,” said head coach Howie Draper. “When Toronto was surging there and we lost our momentum a little bit, she was making stops that we absolutely needed. It could very well have been Toronto leading 3-1 heading into the third period.”
One of those critical 16 saves she made in the second period was just two minutes into the period where Schroeder had to shut the door on a streaking Jesse Compher from Toronto to keep Toronto off the board.
Schroeder was named the game's first star recording the first shutout in league history.
The fans showed up
During the opening ceremony, there was an electric feeling running through the area as the sold out 2,537 fans waved their purple flashing wristbands in the air as each of the Toronto players' names was announced.
Despite the outcome that energy continued throughout the 60 minutes of action as "Let’s Go TO" chants bounced their way off of the original Maple Leaf Garden roof and thunderous applause followed a hard hit from Emma Maltais in the third minute.
The moment that encapsulated the afternoon though saw the home fans sticking around after the game to cheer on both teams as they met at centre ice for a photo to commemorate the game.