In a span of three minutes in the second period, PWHL Ottawa’s hopes of stringing together consecutive wins for the first time all season were completely dashed in an eventual 5-2 loss against PWHL Toronto at TD Place Arena.
Goals from forwards Brittany Howard and Hannah Miller gave Toronto a commanding 3-0 lead and forced Ottawa to swap out goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer for German backup Sandra Abstreiter. In a nightmare scenario for Ottawa, Toronto’s Samantha Cogan scored on the very next shot to put them up 4-0 just five minutes into the second frame, burying Ottawa in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
“At that point, our deficit was so big,” Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod said. “It’s hard to dig out of it in this league. I thought we gave a good effort.”
“Our start, we didn’t love it.”
Ottawa dominated Toronto in their two last meetings, winning 5-1 Jan. 13 and 3-1 Jan. 23 to earn their first two wins in franchise history. But since then, Toronto has strung together a six-game win streak, which jumped to seven with their victory in Ottawa.
“It has been a while [since playing Toronto],” MacLeod said. “They have sorted out their game in a lot of ways.”
Maschmeyer saw her 14th start in Ottawa’s 15 games so far this season. She has accumulated 788 minutes of playing time this season — more than any other goalie in the league.
The game started slowly for Ottawa, and it took nearly nine minutes for the team to register a shot on goal.
Toronto forward Sarah Nurse capitalized on the slow start, receiving a pass in the slot from blueliner Renata Fast and firing the puck past Maschmeyer, who struggled to see around a Toronto forward Natalie Spooner’s screen.
Ottawa created several chances in response, but failed to get rubber on Campbell.
In the dying moments of the period, Maschmeyer made an unbelievable falling save to keep the deficit at one. Fast’s rebound ended up on Jesse Compher’s stick in front of a wide-open net, but she was robbed by Maschmeyer’s glove.
Two minutes into the second frame, Toronto forward Victoria Bach delivered a pass to her linemate Howard, who beat Maschmeyer below the blocker while falling to the ice.
Recognizing a desperate need for a change, MacLeod pulled Maschmeyer and out came Abstreiter.
In Abstreiter’s 17 minutes of action this season, she allowed two goals on 12 shots against Boston before getting injured and leaving the ice.
But less than a minute after Abstreiter took up the crease, Cogan’s shot trickled past her to take a 4-0 lead.
Ottawa took a time-out and looked to rally.
Soon after, Toronto forward Maggie Connors was alone on a breakaway, but Abstreiter stoned her opportunity, saving Ottawa from further embarrassment on home ice.
Looking to spark a comeback, Ottawa forward Hayley Scamurra took a shot in close on Campbell. Finding the loose puck, forward Gabbie Hughes worked the puck over the goal line to bring the score to 4-1.
Nearly six minutes into the third period, Jincy Roese’s shot let out a rebound into the slot, which Ottawa defender Ashton Bell swung home to cut Toronto’s lead in half.
But Ottawa’s momentum was halted there, as Campbell and the Toronto defence were lights out to seal the win. Connors added an empty netter to conclude Toronto’s first victory over Ottawa.
Toronto’s win streak extended to seven as they climbed into second place in the PWHL standings.
Ottawa remains tied for last in the standings with PWHL New York and two points out of a playoff spot.
Ottawa begins a four-game road trip on March 5 when they take on third-place PWHL Minnesota. Ottawa will look to change their fortunes as they lag behind in the hunt for a spot in the PWHL’s first-ever playoffs.
Featured image by Andrea Cardin/Freestyle Photography/PWHL.
