Turnbull nets pair in Toronto playoff win
PWHL Minnesota came into the playoffs hoping for a reset.
Toronto had other ideas. Toronto’s dominance over the past two weeks continued right on into the playoffs while Minnesota’s struggles followed it, as well.
The result was a one-sided 4-0 Toronto win in Game 1 of this first ever best-of-five PHWL semifinal.
Toronto will try to make it 2-0 on Friday back at its new playoff home, the Coca-Cola Coliseum, where a sellout crowd of 8,473 was on hand for Wednesday night’s win.
Both teams came out rather tentatively, not wanting to make any big blunders early and give the other a boost of confidence.
That said, both teams also had a few opportunities, but the steady goaltending of Kristen Campbell and Nicole Hensley on those few good chances kept the scoreboard at zeros.
That changed just under 10 minutes into the game when Hannah Miller gained the zone and fed PWHL leading goal-scorer and pointgetter Natalie Spooner. With Lee Stecklein right on her, Spooner pulled the puck back and ripped one over Hensley’s glove for a 1-0 lead, bringing the crowd at the Coliseum to its feet for the first time of the evening.
It wouldn’t be the last. Toronto would get two more goals in the second period, again involving the core of its roster.
Sarah Nurse and Emma Maltais hooked up for the second goal on a nice mix of speed and pinpoint passing. Maltais got in behind three Minnesota defenders and with little room to manoeuvre took a seeing-eye pass from Nurse before slipping
one past Hensley for a 2-0 lead.
On Toronto’s third goal it was Spooner, this time playing the role of distributor and putting one directly into
the skates of a driving Blayre Turnbull, who nd deftly directly it past Hensley for the 3-0 lead.
Turnbull, the team captain, got her second of the game in the final minute as she knocked home a rebound past a fallen Hensley.
At the other end, Campbell picked up right where she left off in the regular season, staying calm, cool and collected while handling a lot of shots from the boards and distance and making the big save the odd time Minnesota got a chance in close.
Her stop of the night came with Toronto up 2-0 and Grace Zumwinkle left alone in front of the Toronto net. Zumwinkle one-timed the pass from the corner with Campbell holding her ground and smothering the opportunity.
In the third, with Minnesota pressing and throwing everything it had at Toronto, a pinching Clair DeGeorge momentarily had an open net before Campbell came sliding across to keep her shutout intact.
Campbell turned aside all 26 shots she faced.
Turnbull, a player who sets the tone for defensive responsibility among Toronto’s forwards, said Campbell has the ability to stay calm in key situations.
“She just gives us so much confidence,” said Turnbull. “The best part about Soupy is she has figured out how to stay calm regardless of what is happening on the ice. She has been really stable for us in her emotions.
“As players, when a goalie gives you that calmness and that sense that everything is under control, you feel really good no matter what is happening on the ice. It’s something that is a strength of hers and it’s something that gives us a lot of power when she’s in a zone like that.”
Toronto had 19 only shots on the night, but had far more quality opportunities than the visitors.
Neither team had much of a chance to show off their special teams with just three minors called all night — two of them on Minnesota — and neither team making the other pay.