PWHL Toronto made minor changes that paid big dividends, kept shots out of their house, and secured home ice as Curtis Martin writes.
PWHL Toronto dominated with a 6-2 win over New York on Sunday afternoon.
A Sarah Nurse hat trick and a 30-save performance from Kristen Campbell lead Toronto to their second straight win.
Shakeup Pays Dividends
PWHL Toronto’s head coach Troy Ryan decided to split up Nurse and Natalie Spooner this afternoon. It’s safe to say the change worked out well for the club.
Nurse on her new line continued her recent hot streak, scoring the team's first two goals of the game. These came through her strong play in front of the net as just a minute into the game she was able to break free from coverage just outside the blue paint and tuck the puck past Abby Levy.
“I get to play with some pretty great players that put me in positions to score,” said Nurse. “It feels good, I do not know if I'm the biggest goal scorer ever but it's nice to contribute that way to this team.”
Spooner also had an impressive offensive game with her new centre in Blayre Turnbull. Spooner scored a goal but had multiple other A+ scoring chances including a breakaway opportunity late in the second period that Levy denied.
With the performance of this new look lineup for Toronto, Troy Ryan should consider running the same look against Ottawa to see how they continue to perform against a tougher opponent.
Toronto Nullifies New York
Despite outshooting Toronto with 33 shots, New York could not find their way into the high-danger areas.
Only 10 of those shots from New York came in the slot as Toronto continually clogged up the middle of the ice and forced them to take shots from far out where it’s easier for Campbell to handle them.
In comparison Toronto had 17 of their 29 shots come from high-danger areas in the game with five of their six goals coming from the slot.
This a big improvement from their game against Montreal last Saturday where they let them enter the middle of the ice way too much.
This is also thanks to Toronto’s ability to strip the puck from New York regularly and quickly move up the ice in attack.
This team's play defensively will be critical for their success and a game like this just shows how they can nullify a team's offense when playing the style of hockey Ryan preaches to his group.
Toronto Secures Home Ice
With the win in New York, Toronto has moved back into first place and secured home-ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs.
This team is looking to refine its game with just two games remaining as coach Ryan still thinks that the club has areas of the game they need to improve on if they want to win the Walter Cup.
“Going into the playoffs our group should have the confidence, we’ve played and managed those ups and downs,” said Nurse. “We started on a low but have been able to steadily improve, and in our playoff series we want to continue to get better”.
Toronto will wrap up their regular season with two games at home against Ottawa and Minnesota as they look to secure the top spot in the standings.