Toronto Sceptres get Natalie Spooner back, record OT win over Minnesota Frost in PWHL action

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Natalie Spooner may not have seen the ice in a meaningful game for 274 days but it was like she never left, returning to the ice to enjoy the Sceptres’ 3-2 OT win over the visiting Minnesota Frost.

Spooner, making her return to the Toronto Sceptres lineup after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee, stepped right back into the role that made her such an impactful player in her tour de force MVP first season of the PWHL.

No, Spooner didn’t score, though she did hit a post three minutes into the game that threatened to blow the lid off Coca-Cola Coliseum, but if anyone thought she was going to forget where her office was, they were sorely mistaken.

Spooner looked right at home parked in Minnesota Frost goalie Maddie Rooney’s kitchen.

“It was awesome,” a smiling Spooner said after the game. “Definitely an adjustment and I think it will take a few games to get back feeling like myself, but to just get back out there with the girls, to get that win felt really good so I’m excited for the next one now.”

Spooner was greeted, as expected, with the largest ovation of the pre-game. Her first game back since May 13 of last season’s playoffs is one that had been anticipated by teammates and fans alike for a while.

Spooner said the actual return date was always a bit of a moving target as she went through tests with the team’s medical people.

“I like being around there,” Spooner said of her net-front presence. “I got a few pucks in there today and they didn’t quite go in but just getting comfortable with my timing and where to be when the pucks do get there might take some time, but it felt good to be back there.”

Renata Fast single-handedly made sure this one ended in a win for Spooner, taking a puck in her own end and going the length of the ice in the overtime period before beating Rooney with a deke with a scant 3.7 seconds left on the clock.

It was a big moment for Fast, too, but she knew the night belonged to Spooner.

“You could feel it the moment we got to the rink this afternoon,” Fast said.

“Spooner’s energy was already in the locker room. I think Spooner just brings so much on and off the ice. All of us defenders just said, ‘If you see Spoons in front of the net, just shoot the puck.’ She’s just so good in front of there and such a valuable part of our team. Just nice to have her back.”

While this was her first game this year, Spooner has been with the team for the better part of the past three weeks. She rejoined the team in full contact practices on Jan. 20 and even accompanied the team on its final road trip before the International break for games in Minnesota and Montreal.

As much as the Sceptres missed Spooner’s talents on the ice, her absence from the day to day routine up until the 20th left a hole in the team fabric.

Spooner is a free spirit who enjoys the game, all parts of the game, to the fullest. She has a knack for keeping things loose and positive all at once, something that comes in particularly handy during tough stretches like the Sceptres experienced through much of December and January.

mganter@postmedia.com

SPOONER’S GAME BY PERIOD

First period

Seven shifts, 6:45 of ice time. Two power-play opportunities, three shots at the net, one off the post, one over the net and one shot wide.

Second period

Seven shifts, 7:02 worth of ice time. An assist on the power play and a plus two for the period as she was on the ice for both Toronto goals. In fact she was within an arm’s length of Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney on both goals. The period began with Spooner on the ice for a full minute killing off a Daryl Watts penalty, so in her first game back she saw action in all three phases of the game.

Third period and OT

Seven shifts, 7:22 of ice time. Spent a lot of time working in her own end as Minnesota dominated the play. Got through the game relatively unscathed. Was not on the receiving end of any real rough stuff, although she took one fall in the corner early in the third period and was up quickly, and of course absorbed whatever punishment she got parked in front of the Minnesota net.