Toronto Sceptres open PWHL season with 3-1 comeback win over Boston Fleet
Hannah Miller scored a power-play goal with 1:38 remaining in the game, lifting the Toronto Sceptres to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Fleet in the Professional Women’s Hockey League season opener on Saturday.
With Boston standout Hilary Knight in the penalty box for a vicious boarding penalty on Sceptres defender Renata Fast, Miller made good on her rebound attempt on a Daryl Watts shot with a half-open net.
Fast recovered for an assist on the winner before 8,089 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Fleet (0-1-0) challenged the goal, but video review deemed Miller’s shot was good.
Sarah Nurse got Toronto (1-0-0) on the board with a short-handed tally 11:50 into the first period and Emma Maltais added an empty-net strike to seal the score at 3-1 with 12 seconds left on the game clock.
Boston’s Hilary Knight opened the scoring at the 3:00 mark of the opening frame, sending a slap shot past Toronto goalie Kristin Campbell, who registered 18 stops on the night.
Toronto outshot Boston 41-19. Boston goalie Aerin Frankel, a big reason why her team advanced to the Walter Cup final last spring, was outstanding with 38 saves.
Frankel made a significant glove-hand stop on Toronto defender Jocelyne Larocque with 6:36 remaining in the third period.
Larocque was alone when a rebound caromed to her in front. But the puck was rolling, and she could only lift her shot straight into Frankel’s glove.
Nurse’s goal tested the league’s new jailbreak rule that sees a minor penalty — in this case, Izzy Daniel’s tripping infraction — wiped out when a team scores a short-handed goal. .
Takeaways
Sceptres: Billie Jean King MVP Natalie Spooner missed the season opener. The PWHL scoring champion underwent left knee surgery last June after getting injured in Game 3 of Toronto’s first-round series against Minnesota.
Fleet: Defender Emma Greco of Burlington, Ont., played her first game for Boston. She was part of the Walter Cup-winning Minnesota team that defeated Boston in a three-game series last spring. Greco is one of five Ontario-born players on the Fleet roster.
Key moment
With the game tied 1-1, the Sceptres failed to score during a 59-second 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period. Boston blocked five shots during the span.
Key stat
Last year, Toronto enjoyed an 11-game win streak en route to its regular-season championship, including three wins against Boston.
Up next
Toronto visits Ottawa on Tuesday. Boston will play its home opener on Wednesday, a rematch with the Walter Cup-champion Minnesota.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Canada out of world junior hockey championship with 4-3 loss to Czechia
Canada has been eliminated from the world junior hockey championship with a 4-3 loss to Czechia in the quarterfinals.
Pickering pausing in-person meeting due to alt-right threats, mayor says
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe says the city is pausing all in-person meetings, moving them to a virtual format, for the time being due to “alt-right” threats.
Athabasca 'chop shop' bust yields millions in stolen vehicles, heavy equipment: RCMP
RCMP have made what they call a "major recovery" of stolen property in Athabasca.
2 dead and 18 injured in Southern California plane crash
Two people died and 18 were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building in Southern California where at least 200 people were working, police said.
Toys "R" Us Canada closing 5 stores, expand HMV and add play spaces to some shops
Toys 'R' Us Canada says it is closing five Ontario stores and revamping several others as it works to 'optimize' its business.
Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds, is dead at 73
Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as 'One Bad Apple,' 'Yo-Yo' and 'Down By the Lazy River,' has died. He was 73.
Grieving orca mother Tahlequah carries dead baby for the second time
The famous mother orca who made waves around the world for carrying her dead calf for 17 days has suffered another tragic loss.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Marco Mendicino won't seek re-election
Marco Mendicino, a prominent Toronto member of Parliament and former minister of public safety and immigration, won't run in the next federal election, CTV News has learned.
U.S. soldier shot self in head before Cybertruck exploded outside Trump's Las Vegas hotel, officials say
The highly decorated U.S. army soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said Thursday.