The goals start coming and they don鈥檛 stop coming. Nor, it seems, do the close playoff games in Toronto.
If the 海角社区官网Sceptres had the ghosts of playoffs鈥 past circling their locker room, they didn鈥檛 much show it Wednesday night, beating the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost 3-2 to take an early lead in their semifinal series.
鈥淎ny chance you can win the first game of a series, I think it鈥檚 huge,鈥 Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said after the game. 鈥淚 was so happy and proud of the way our team played as a group.鈥
The home crowd, though enthusiastic throughout, was much smaller than perhaps anticipated聽; online ticket portals showed dozens of tickets available as late as an hour before puck drop and there were clusters of seats inside Coca-Cola Coliseum with untouched rally towels laid across them by the time the game began.
Sceptres fans had their fair share of early excitement; Izzy Daniel and Laura Kluge both had prime scoring chances in the opening frame, but Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley stood tall, turning away the first eight shots that came her way.
Eventually, Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull broke the ice, taking a sharp Jesse Compher feed and gliding her way across the front of the net, tucking the puck past Hensley鈥檚 outstretched glove. The opening goal was Turnbull鈥檚 first against Minnesota since Game 1 of last season鈥檚 semifinal series, when she scored a pair in the Sceptres鈥 dominant 4-0 victory.
The Sceptres kept the pressure on through the remainder of the period 鈥 including on an action-packed power play that saw heavy traffic in front of Hensley鈥檚 crease 鈥 but Minnesota kept them tethered heading into the first intermission.
“Tonight, we just showed up and we were ready to play,” Turnbull said, describing the opening frame as “probably the best first period” the team had all season.聽
海角社区官网continued gaining momentum in the second period, killing off an early Daryl Watts slashing penalty before Julia Gosling scooped up her own rebound and wired a wrist shot past Hensley to give the Sceptres a two-goal advantage.
Minutes later, Gosling found the back of the net again, this time on a seeing-eye shot from a patch of open ice beyond the face-off dots to extend the lead to 3-0.
Not intent on going away quietly, the Frost got on the board later in the period, taking advantage of a broken play in front of Sceptres goaltender Kristen Campbell on the power play. Britta Curl-Salemme supplied the team’s first of the playoffs.
Curl-Salemme remained in the spotlight, landing a high elbow to Renata Fast鈥檚 head along the boards, resulting in a five-minute major and a game misconduct that earned her a smattering of boos from the home crowd.
The Sceptres couldn鈥檛 make the ensuing power play count, but kept the Frost at bay until Katy Knoll beat Campbell two and a half minutes into the third period, bringing Minnesota within one.
Luckily, the Sceptres鈥 defence held, even with Minnesota pressing in the dying seconds. Lines led by Emma Maltais and Sarah Nurse kept things in the offensive zone, while an exhausted Sceptres group shut the door with the Frost net empty.
Through it all, Campbell was quick, stopping a pair of back-to-back Frost rush chances in the second period and thwarting a handful of chances in a tight third period. She finished the series opener with 24 saves and picked up her third-career PWHL playoff win.
鈥淲e got a complete effort from a lot of players and great goaltending,” Ryan said.
The Sceptres will look to push the Frost to the brink of elimination Friday in Game 2.
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