On January 3 the Seattle Torrent pulled up to Hamilton, ON to take on the Toronto Sceptres in their second straight Takeover Tour game. The teams were joined by 16,012 PWHL fans hopeful for a good game, and a good turnout, to help put their city in talks for a potential team.

The Torrent have six Ontario-born players including Megan Carter who said, prior to the game, “It’s always special to play close to home in front of friends and family who helped me get to where I am today. Growing up playing and coaching for the Stoney Creek Girls Hockey Association, I know how strong the hockey community is in the Hamilton area and it’s awesome to see them rewarded with a PWHL game. I’m excited for young players to have this experience in their own backyard and envision themselves playing in this league one day.”

Of course, several Sceptres players also have ties to the area. “I’m so pumped to play in Hamilton! It’s super cool to play so close to home and in a city so hungry for hockey. The updated TD Coliseum looks sweet, and I can’t wait to take on the Seattle Torrent for the first time on Saturday,” said Emma Maltais.

“We’re looking to come out strong and kick some butt for the crowd and hope to welcome a lot of our Sceptres fans and some from further outside of the GTA – a similar, but different, home crowd.”

The first and second periods almost felt like two different games. At 5:10 into the game, Lexie Adzija got her second goal of the season. Natalie Snodgrass got the puck out of traffic behind the net to Mariah Keopple. Keopple passed to Mikyla Grant-Mentis who found Adzija net-front. It was Keopple’s first point of the season.

Seattle had a chance on the power play at 11:34 into the game and had two shots, and two blocked shots, during the player advantage, but couldn’t make anything of it. Still, they went into the first intermission up 1-0 and holding an edge in shots, 14-6. 

Toronto came out swinging in the second and scored a goal just 55 seconds in. Natalie Spooner tied it on a two-on-one that caught the Torrent on a change. From there, Toronto continued to have fantastic chances, but Torrent netminder Corinne Schroeder stood tall and kept the game tied.

Lily Delianedis took the first penalty in her professional career at 13:08 into the second for cross-checking. The Torrent’s penalty kill had a 84% success rate going into this game and it continued to hold up against Toronto’s three shots during this penalty.  The teams went into the second intermission tied, but the Sceptres largely had control during the middle frame. Shots were basically swapped, with eight for Seattle and 14 for Toronto.

Toronto took their first lead of the game at 9:55 into the third. Watts set a new Sceptres record and extended her goal streak to four straight games. Renata Fast sent a puck to the net, which Schroeder blocked, but she was too far to the left of the net to stop Watts’ rebound shot.

It only took about six minutes for the Torrent to tie the game 2-2. Alex Carpenter cleaned up a rebound and fired the puck past Sceptres’ goalie, Raygan Kirk. The goal, assisted by Julia Gosling and Anna Wilgren, was Carpenter’s 50th career point ,making her the first U.S. player to reach that milestone and just the third in the PWHL overall.

Despite both teams having chances in the dying minutes of the game, regulation ended in a tie. After five minutes of overtime Seattle had four shots to Toronto’s zero but was unable to capitalize.  

In the shootout, Hannah Bilka netted her goal, and Sara Hjalmarsson from the Sceptres was unsuccessful in her attempt. In round two, Wilgren got her shot past Kirk, but Spooner couldn’t beat Schroeder. Bilka and Watts were both unable to score in round three, and Carpenter and Claire Dalton were both thwarted in round four. The Torrent took the shootout win with a final score of 3-2.

This game marked Schroeder's first win with the Torrent and also awarded her third star of the game. Watts was named second star, and Carpenter with her 50-point milestone was first star of the game. The Torrent, who are currently on a 17-day road trip, notched their first road win with this game.

“The results aren’t always the most important thing. We want to put things together period after period, but what we’re doing is working period after period and seeing our identity grow, game in game out," said Torrent head coach, Steve O'Rourke post-game.

"We’re getting better as a group with our details, but the biggest thing here is understanding that these are 30 playoff games. That’s really what it is with intensity. We get ready each and every night to have that mentality, and we’re starting to form that each night, that playoff mindset."

Toronto’s next game is Tuesday, January 6 versus New York at 7 p.m. ET. Seattle plays Wednesday, January 7 in New York at 7 p.m. ET.