Sceptres Stay Positive Despite Recent Results

Two weeks ago, three teams (Toronto, Boston, and Ottawa) looked like they were struggling to find their form and were more or less tied in the bottom half of the PWHL standings. Since then, however, Boston has managed to find a style of game that grabs points through grit, and Ottawa has succeeded largely through goaltending prowess and timely scoring.

Toronto, however, has come up short despite improving several areas of their early play, and have found themselves squarely in last place. Their loss to the Charge on New Year’s Eve was an example of a result that seemed to fly in the face of a much better effort and a team that probably deserved better.

“You don’t want to be the coach that keeps talking about positive things in losses,” said coach Troy Ryan after that game.

In the recent Takeover Tour game in Vancouver, they also lost 4-2 to Montreal after falling behind, and their strong push back didn’t help the outcome: zero points. Is the lack of tangible results bothering the Sceptres?

“It’s obviously frustrating not getting wins,” said defender Renata Fast. ”We're all competitive. You want to win. At the same time though, it's been promising. We've drastically gotten better, we've been getting more opportunities and now it's just finding a way to get the back of the net.

“So I'd say the spirits are high still and the group is so close-knit and we're still very positive, which is all you can ask for in a situation like this.”

Ryan observed, “It would be nice to see a better start. I thought we were slow starting the other night in Vancouver, but as the game went on we controlled a big chunk of the play.”

Still, he said, “That's just not good enough. At this level, obviously, we've got to find ways to keep the puck out of our net and we've got to find ways to put some of those good offensive chances away.”

Last year, goaltender Kristen Campbell struggled early but found her game and helped the team go on an 11-game winning streak. Similarly, in the game against Montreal, there were some positive signs.

“At the end of that game, some of the saves she makes, hopefully that's where she'll pick up moving forward,” said Ryan.

“I think she knows. She's been a pro for a while now and she has a ton of experience. She knows she needs to be better early on.

“[Campbell] looked really good late in the game and kept it interesting. I think if she can continue to do that, good things will happen for her.”

After a blockbuster trade that shook the team and the rest of the league, the Sceptres are adjusting to the changes, bringing in defender Savannah Harmon and forward Hayley Scamurra. But on the ice, the progress they’re making needs to stay up to speed if they are going to make up the points they’ve let get away from them in the first nine games.

From Fast’s point of view, they “need to clean up some areas and bear down on some of the 50-50 puck battles to be able to get those deep.”

Ryan agreed. “You have to take some chances to be able to create offense and I think right now our D are getting it in the hands of the forwards, and hoping the forwards will produce the offense. I'd like to see more of a team effort offensively.”

In the game versus Montreal, Daryl Watts scored a power play goal less than a minute after Marie-Philip Poulin had put the Victoire ahead 3-0 and that timely answer is another bright spot.

”Our power play is starting to win some of those special teams battles on a given night and in doing that they've also increased the power play percentage (which now leads the entire league at 26.3%). So we’ve been happy with that trending in the right direction,” said the coach.

Jesse Compher has looked like a confident player so far, and has earned herself a promotion in the lineup. Her offensive output is a welcome addition to a team missing its top scorer from last season, Natalie Spooner, who still hasn’t received clearance to rejoin the team.

Another ingredient Compher contributes is being loose and playing without gripping her stick too tightly. The Sceptres are caught in a space where the pressure could get to them if the points don’t materialize.

However, as Fast put it, “There's so much offensive talent on this team that we're going to find the back of the net. We’ve just got to stick with it.“