PWHL

Toronto Sceptres pull away from Boston Fleet to win PWHL opener

Hannah Miller scored a power-play goal with 1:38 remaining in the game, lifting the Toronto Sceptres to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Fleet in the Professional Women's Hockey League season opener on Saturday.

Hannah Miller scores game winner with 1:38 left in the game

Toronto Sceptres female players celebrate their win over the Boston Fleet after PWHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.
Sceptres teammates celebrate their win over the Boston Fleet after PWHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

The Toronto Sceptres produced their version of Miller Time in the Professional Women's Hockey League season opener on Saturday.

Second-year centre Hannah Miller scored the game-winning goal on a power play with 98 seconds remaining in the third period, lifting the Sceptres to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Fleet.

"It was pretty much a wide-open net, so I'm happy that I was able to put it in," said Miller, who knocked in a rebound after her teammate Daryl Watts' shot from the far side bounded right to her at the side of the goal.

The 28-year-old Miller from North Vancouver has played for Canada at the under-18 level, in leagues in China and Sweden, and for the Chinese national team at the Beijing Olympics where she scored China's first goal of the 2022 tournament.

But how did Saturday's game-saving moment — played in front of 8,089 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum — compare?

"Any time you can contribute and score a goal, it's exciting," Miller said. "I'm just happy to get the win tonight and keep building."

Special teams were a significant factor for the home side.

WATCH | Miller buries winner:

Hannah Miller's late goal lifts Sceptres past Fleet in PWHL season opener

22 days ago
Duration 1:47
Toronto defeats Boston 3-1 in the Professional Women's Hockey League season opener. Hannah Miller scores the game winner with 1:38 remaining in regulation while on a power-play.

The Spectres fell behind three minutes into the first period thanks to a Hilary Knight power-play goal.

Toronto tied the game halfway through the opening frame when Sarah Nurse scored short-handed.

Watts sprung Nurse for a breakaway and she slammed home her rebound.

Watts, signed as a free agent in the off-season after her rookie season in Ottawa, then registered her second assist on Miller's tally.

Emma Maltais added an empty-net goal to seal the score at 3-1.

Two Toronto Sceptres female players celebrate a goal.
Sarah Nurse, left, celebrates her goal with teammate goalie Kristen Campbell (50) during the first period. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

Late power play

Toronto was awarded the late-game power play after Boston standout Knight was called for a vicious boarding penalty on Sceptres defender Renata Fast.

"I thought she was in the process of turning so I was just trying to finish the play, take the puck off her," Knight said. "We just got caught up.

"You never want to see a player going to the boards like that."

Knight showed concern for Fast, who bit her lip on the play but recovered in time to help set up the game-winning goal.

"I was just making sure that she knew she could stay down, just in case she was injured," Knight said.

Toronto, who were playing without Billie Jean King MVP Natalie Spooner, outshot Boston 41-19.

Spooner isrecovering from surgery on her left knee last June.

"Being able to put 40-plus shots on goal, it's hard not to think of the pucks that Spooner would collect in the position that net front," Toronto head coach Troy Ryan said.

"But we'll learn as a group if we're putting that many pucks on the net, if someone gets to that Spooner area, there'll be some goals there for them as well."

WATCH | Way too early PWHL predictions:

Way too early PWHL season predictions

25 days ago
Duration 6:43
Host Anastasia Bucsis is joined by PWHL insider Karissa Donkin as they give their early predictions ahead of the 2nd PWHL seasons.

Boston goalie Aerin Frankel, a big reason why her team advanced to the Walter Cup final last spring, was outstanding with 38 saves.

Frankel made a significant glove-hand stop on Toronto defender Jocelyne Larocque with 6:36 remaining in the third period.

Larocque was alone when a rebound caromed to her in front. But the puck was rolling, and she could only lift her shot straight into Frankel's glove.

Sceptres goalie Kristen Campbell stopped 18 shots.

Toronto outshot the visitors by a combined 32-7 in the final 40 minutes to finish strong.

But with the game tied 1-1, the Sceptres failed to score during a 59-second 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period. Boston blocked five shots while down two players.

Defender Emma Greco of Burlington, Ont., played her first game for Boston. She was part of the Walter Cup-winning Minnesota team that defeated Boston in a three-game series last spring.

Greco is one of five Ontario-born players on the Fleet roster.

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tim has covered the hockey landscape and other sports in Canada for three decades for The Canadian Press, CBC Sports, the Globe and Mail and Toronto Sun. He has been to three Winter Olympics, 11 Stanley Cups, a world championship as well as 17 world junior championships, 13 Memorial Cups and 13 University Cups. The native of Waterloo, Ont., always has his eye out for an underdog story.

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