Sceptres use third-period rally to get by Fleet 4-2
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The battle for one of the top two seeds heading into the PWHL playoffs is going to be a war.
The Toronto Sceptres had that message pounded home in Boston on Wednesday, surviving two periods in which they were outplayed by the Fleet and then turning it on in the third period to turn an early deficit into a 4-2 win.
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Sceptres use third-period rally to get by Fleet 4-2 Back to video
By virtue of the three-point regulation win, the Sceptres opened up a little room between themselves and the Fleet for second place and the all-important home ice advantage that comes with it in the first round as Toronto now has a five-point edge on Boston.
For two periods, Boston’s ever-steady goalkeeper Aerin Frankel held the Sceptres at bay, but in the third Toronto scored twice in 1:34 to take the lead for good.
First it was Daryl Watts solving Frankel’s dominance by smartly banking a puck in off the Boston goalie from behind the net.
Exactly 94 seconds later, Hayley Scamurra got a stick on an Anna Kjellbin drive and that found the back of the net and suddenly it was the Fleet chasing the lead.
Renata Fast bumped the lead to two as she came out from behind the Boston net and, left uncovered, turned back to the net and beat Frankel for the two-goal edge.
Boston wasn’t done yet as Knight scored her second of the game, pushing in a puck that Campbell had trapped between her pad and the post to give Boston some hope.
Watts answered that, first drawing a penalty to put Toronto on the power play and then picking the top corner on Frankel for what turned out to be the clincher.
With the two goals, Watts now has 10 and became just the ninth PWHL player to reach double digits in goals. She moved into third in the overall scoring race, just three points back of Knight and two back of New York’s Sarah Fillier.
Before the league goes on a month-long break for the world women’s hockey championship, Toronto has one more game, Sunday in Minnesota.
VICTOIRE 4, FROST 1
Montreal began the night with a three-point edge on Toronto for first place. The Victoire maintained that three-point edge with a 4-1 victory over the host Minnesota Frost.
Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey each scored two goals for Montreal, while Kelly Pannek had Minnesota’s goal.
mganter@postmedia.com
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