PWHL Toronto can’t sweep Minnesota, Natalie Spooner leaves early

Article content

A switch in venues had a profound impact on what had been a very one-sided PWHL semifinal series featuring Toronto and Minnesota.

Back on home ice for the first time in the series, PWHL Minnesota looked like a different team, but then too, so did Toronto.

Minnesota, which had not been able to score through two games with the series in Toronto, scored twice in the second period breaking through against Kristen Campbell on a screened shot from the point off the stick of Maggie Flaherty and then a bit of a gift as Campbell stopped a routine looking dump in from the blue line and then couldn’t find the puck as she stood up, allowing a driving Denisa Krizova to tap it in behind her for a gift of a goal.

The 2-0 win gets Minnesota back into the series, down 2-1 in the best-of-five semifinal.

Full credit to Minnesota, which came in determined to have a better showing on home ice than they had in Toronto.

In truth, this game really was an extension of Game 2 for them, the only difference being this time they had a little puck luck and Toronto had none.

Toronto, though, bears a lot of the responsibility for opening that door with what head coach Troy Ryan called probably their worst period of the year in the first period.

Toronto was outshot 11-2 in the frame, but came out of it unscathed.

Toronto, though, wasn’t playing its physical game and it certainly wasn’t forcing the play with a forecheck that had become as much a part of its identity as the physicality.

Ryan’s squad did come out in the second with more of a push but the Flaherty goal put them back on their heels and the gift goal to Krizova put them further back into that first-period malaise.

Toronto was again better in the third period, but could not beat Minnesota goalkeeper Maddie Rooney, who was solid all night.

With just over eight minutes to go in the game and Toronto killing its fourth penalty of the night to its own two power play opportunities in the game, Natalie Spooner was on the receiving end of a hard hit from Grace Zumwinkle just off the boards in front of the Toronto bench.

Spooner stayed down and literally crawled into the bench before being helped back to the dressing room.

Losing the league leader in points and goals for any length of time would do tremendous damage to Toronto’s championship aspirations.

The two teams will go at it again at the Xcel Energy Centre on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. puck drop.

mganter@postmedia.com