In just their second regulation loss of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season, formerly league-leading PWHL Minnesota fell to formerly league-worst PWHL Toronto on the road in a sweet upset, serving as a huge statement for the latter squad. Goaltender Kristen Campbell had herself a wonderful afternoon, while forward Natalie Spooner had two goals and an assist in the win — both helped lead Toronto to their win. What were some takeaways?
Spooner Ended Minnesota’s Strong Start
In what became an evident theme for this contest early on, Minnesota was the better team in terms of chances and puck possession in the first period, but a late goal from Spooner broke a scoreless tie for Toronto. A seemingly harmless 2-on-2 entry on a power play turned into a 4-on-2 because of some tired Minnesota bodies, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Toronto was on the board. If that wasn’t enough, she added another tally later on to hit her PWHL-leading seventh goal of the season.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, the previous 19 minutes had pretty much no effect. Sometimes, that’s just the reality of the sport. Hockey is one of the very few sports where one single sequence can end an extended stint of promising play, but that was the reality. Toronto and Spooner in particular deserve some kudos for hanging in there despite Minnesota mostly controlling the pace early on, but as time went along they were able to take control themselves, opening the floodgates in the third period and ending any chance Minnesota had of winning the game.
Perseverance Kept Minnesota in the Game
Going back to a previous point, it’s very discouraging to, objectively, be the better team throughout the game and yet manage to trail for most of it. There should be some credit given to Minnesota netminder Nicole Hensley for always keeping her team in the game, but they just couldn’t finish on their looks. They had some good ones that went awry, but they at least kept at it to push Toronto that much harder.
It’s sort of been a theme for Minnesota this season to outplay their opponents, but this one was one of the worst showings of that. They were in the contest for the whole way, but two tallies within a minute of each other with under half of the third period remaining did them in. Still, it was good to see them compete for so long — the score just looks a bit worse than it actually was.
Campbell Shut the Door
Getting to Toronto, Campbell was the story in goal. She had just a .890 save percentage (SV%) entering this one against a very tough Minnesota opponent, but she held her ground and had a phenomenal performance. Stopping 23 of 24 shots, it might not show in the box score but she was absolutely brilliant.
Toronto, a team that was at the bottom of the PWHL standings before this contest, really needed a strong performance from Campbell — their success hinged on it. Thankfully, she came to the test and outshined arguably the best goaltender in the PWHL currently in Hensley, who was riding a .948 SV% and 1.58 goals-against average (GAA) in five contests entering this one, not having lost a single game in regulation.
Campbell was actually coming off a shutout in her last game, so she’s definitely started to come into her own still in the early stages of the PWHL. If she can play like this moving forward, Toronto could very well find themselves among the four teams to make the playoffs this season. They got off to a rough start, but they seem to be turning it around now.
Toronto Might Turn Their Season Around
Again, it wasn’t looking pretty for Toronto early on this season. They had just two total wins in the first eight of 24 total games, so their start wasn’t ideal. Now with back-to-back wins on home ice, things definitely look to be changing for them. With that win alone, they jumped to third place in the PWHL standings and have a two-point cushion on a playoff spot. Now, the other teams can easily catch up as they have games in their favor, but just one single contest can change a season entirely. With 66 percent of it still left to go, there is plenty of time to do that.
Since four of the six PWHL teams will make the playoffs, there are favorable odds for them to do so. If they continue to play like they did in this game — and, recently in general — they should continue to climb the standings. If other teams aren’t careful, they might strike at the perfect time. It’ll be exciting to monitor during the rest of this first PWHL campaign.
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Next up, Minnesota will have to wait a while to avenge themselves with Ottawa up next at Xcel Energy Center on Feb. 14 — a team now tied for the worst record in the league with nine points. As for Sarah Nurse and her Toronto club, they’ll be looking to continue their winning ways with a road contest against Boston which will also take place on Feb. 14. Boston has 10 points in six games so far, so these teams are neck and neck.