Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøSceptres still have a chance to finish on top of the standings and dictate which of the two bottom playoff teams they want to play.
They’ll play Game 1 at home in the best-of-five, first-round series but it remains to be seen which PWHL squad they’ll be battling at Coca-Cola Coliseum.Â
The Sceptres secured home-ice advantage for the semifinal round with Ottawa’s loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.
A win over Ottawa at home Saturday, combined with a Montreal loss to last-place New York, would leave the the Sceptres and Victoire tied with 50 points. The Sceptres over the Victoire, with º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøhaving more regulation wins. Ottawa, meanwhile, clinches a playoff spot with a win over Toronto.
Spooner has just five points in 12 games since returning from injury, but that hasn’t weakened her resolve as the Sceptres head to the post-season.Â
Spooner has just five points in 12 games since returning from injury, but that hasn’t weakened her resolve as the Sceptres head to the post-season.Â
The team that finishes first in the regular season gets to choose who it plays in the first round. Boston, Ottawa and Minnesota are the three teams battling for the third- and fourth-place spots.Â
Past performance would suggest that the Sceptres would choose Boston if given the opportunity since they have a 4-2 record against the Fleet this season.Â
The Sceptres are 2-2-2 against the Frost and 3-2 against the Charge.
As º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøshowed last year, choosing your opponent doesn’t always work out. The then-unnamed º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøsquad chose to face fourth-place Minnesota, only to lose in the semifinals after taking an early 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. League MVP Natalie Spooner suffered a torn ACL in Game 3 and didn’t come back from that devastating injury until February.
The pick seemed logical at the time, as Minnesota had lost five in a row to close out the regular season.
Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury said, given the chance to do it all over again, they still would’ve chosen to play Minnesota last season.
“I don’t think the result is an indication that we missed something or miscalculated our opponent,” she said Thursday in an interview with the Star. “We knew it was going to be a tough battle and it sure was.”Â
The process of choosing their opponent will remain the same if they get the opportunity. It will have to made within 24 hours of the league’s last game, and will involve consultation with their coaching staff and players.Â
“The thing with this league is that the parity is so great that there’s not an obvious choice,” Kingsbury said. “So it definitely comes down to just a feeling from a coaching perspective and making sure that we’re putting ourselves in the best possible position to be successful.”Â
If momentum is a factor this season, Minnesota is 2-3 in its last five games while Boston has lost five of its last eight games.Â
Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull told the Star earlier this week that because of the condensed, two-round playoff schedule, the PWHL playoffs are intense and energetic.
“I think we’ve been trying our best to prepare for that, but it’s one of those things where you have to experience it firsthand to really get a good feel for it,” Turnbull said. Â
The schedule for the playoffs hasn’t been released yet.
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