Toronto — 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 shot by Daryl Watts with a half-open net.
Fast recovered for an assist on the winner before 8,089 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Fleet challenged the goal, but video review deemed Miller’s shot was good.
Sarah Nurse got Toronto on the board with a short-handed tally 11:50 into the first period and Emma Maltais added an empty-net strike with 12 seconds left.
Boston’s Hilary Knight opened the scoring 3 minutes in, sending a slap shot past Toronto goalie Kristen 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, had 38 saves.
Notes
Sceptres: Billie Jean King MVP Natalie Spooner missed the season opener. The PWHL scoring champion underwent left knee surgery in June after getting injured in Game 3 of Toronto’s first-round series against Minnesota.
Fleet: Defender Emma Greco 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.
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
Boston will play its home opener on Wednesday, a rematch with the Walter Cup-champion Minnesota. Toronto visits Ottawa on Tuesday.
Comments are limited to 200 words in length.
Story comments on theday.com are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. Please, stay on topic. If you see an objectionable post, please report it to us using the “Report” link included on every post.
Please note that comments are monitored by theday.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove comments that are off-topic, unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable. Personal attacks, especially on other participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.
Comments that are long, have multiple paragraph breaks, include code of any kind, or include hyperlinks to objectionable material may not be posted.
Read the full policy here.
Total word count: 0 words. Words left: 200.
142 years of history at your fingertips. Search for FREE here.
Hockey News