Toronto Sceptres still can't solve the Ottawa Charge mystery

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There’s something about this Ottawa club that just doesn’t mix well when it comes to the Toronto Sceptres.

Even on a night when Toronto thoroughly dominated the play, the Charge came away with a 2-1 win in a game in which they managed just 13 shots to Toronto’s 38.

Ottawa was the lone team to actually win the season series against Toronto last season and is now off to a 2-0 start against the Sceptres this year.

Casting a shadow over the entire day was a just-completed trade between the two teams that saw major parts of both rosters change sides.

The Charge sent offensive defender and its first-round pick from its first draft in Savannah Harmon along with ultra-physical forward Hayley Scamurra, another Day 1 Ottawa employee, to Toronto.

Going the other way and clearly still feeling the emotions of a life-altering day after Ottawa’s win was Jocelyne Larocque. Also headed to Ottawa was crafty forward Victoria Bach in what was the first trade of the second year of the league.

Larocque was in tears after the game following a quick visit and a long embrace with longtime defensive partner Renata Fast as the Sceptres prepared to salute the sellout crowd following the loss.

“Yeah it was definitely emotional,” Fast said of the entire day. “It’s tough to see someone who means so much to the team and the organization and someone who has been a big part of the player that I am today and see her move to a different team … So yeah a tough day but we’ll process it and get through it.”

Larocque said she was totally caught off guard by the trade and admitted she herself was still very much processing it all.

“I would say that was probably the craziest, weirdest game of my life,” Larocque said. “I am feeling a lot of shock. I don’t even think I have allowed myself to process it just because there was a game so close to when I was traded, my mind was just like, ‘Get ready for the game coming up and tomorrow I can figure out my emotions and where I’m going to live and all of that stuff.”

All that said, Larocque said her new teammates made things much better than she could have ever hoped.

“Honestly, Ottawa has been so welcoming, the staff and the players,” she said. “I had a lot of fun today and honestly I wasn’t sure I was going to.”

None of the actual parts in the trade factored into the scoring in the game though all four not only played but took part in the morning skate after what had to be some initially unsettling news at the end of Monday.

Ottawa got on the board first just over seven minutes into the second period off a scramble in front of Toronto goaltender Raygan Kirk, who didn’t even see her first shot in the game until it was over 13 minutes old.

From her knees just in front of Kirk, Sceptres defender Allie Munroe tried to clear the puck but wound up putting it on a tee for Ronia Savolanen, who was sneaking in from the point and beat Kirk with a blast to the top of the net.

A five-minute major for boarding to Tereza Vasinova put Toronto on the power play with just over eight minutes remaining in the game.

Hannah Miller got the equalizer about halfway into that major on a drive from the top of the circle that Maschmeyer never saw.

But with time running down and Toronto pushing for the go-ahead goal in regulation, Jincy Roese got loose down the boards and into Toronto’s zone and floated a harmless looking shot towards the Toronto net with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Kirk made a play on the puck that appeared to be headed wide of the net and wound up re-directing it behind her for what turned out to be the game winner.

Even Ottawa head coach Carla McLeod admitted the result was probably not one her team fully deserved.

“The reality is that this was obviously not a great game for us,” she said. “We were fortunate to walk away with the win, held on for the better part of the game, but at the same time you take these opportunities and run with them and they happen in all sports. It’s not the first time a team that didn’t outplay the other wins.”

Similarly, Toronto head coach Troy Ryan, while unhappy with the result, said he saw plenty of areas in which his team excelled and had improved on from even their previous win over Boston.

That, though, was the extent of the positives Toronto would take from this game.

Full credit to Ottawa goalkeeper and the game’s first star Maschmeyer, who turned aside 37 of 38 shots in the Ottawa net.

Ottawa forwards, meanwhile, managed just 13 against Kirk the entire game, making it the largest shot differential in PWHL history.

Toronto has a full week now before they take the ice again a week Wednesday in Vancouver as part of the league’s Takeover Tour when they face the league-leading Montreal Victoire.

mganter@postmedia.com