Watts plays hero as Sceptres take third-straight Battle on Bay Street

(Photo credit: PWHL)

By Eli Silverstone

Videos and Social Media by Fredrick Reyes

The Toronto Sceptres defeated the Vancouver Goldeneyes 2-1 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena in the third annual “Battle on Bay Street.” 

Daryl Watts sealed the deal in the extra frame, finishing off a second-chance opportunity for her sixth goal of the season.

With the victory, the Sceptres snapped their four-game losing streak and continued their unbeaten streak at Scotiabank Arena, winning their third Battle on Bay Street in as many years. 

“Nice to snap a four-game drought, thought Kirky [Toronto goaltender Raygan Kirk] played really well, nice to get a power play goal and also nice to get that overtime one as well,” said Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan. 

While it wasn't a perfect win against a last place team in their inaugural season, Ryan isn't lying when he says it’s nice that all four of those things happened. After being a Walter Cup favourite the past two years, this has been a disappointing year for the Sceptres, who currently sit in fifth place. 

Inconsistent goaltending coming from a rotation of Raygan Kirk and Elaine Chuli, a league worst power play that was only scoring 7 percent of the time, and an 0-3 record in overtime were key culprits to the slow first half. 

On Saturday though, they fought off some demons in front of 17,856 fans at Scotiabank Arena

The first period was heavily controlled by the Sceptres, holding the Goldeneyes without a shot for the first eight minutes of the game and outshooting them 20-4 in the period. 

Vancouver goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer—who was named to Team Canada earlier this month for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy—stood tall to keep Vancouver in the game, continuing a recent hot stretch. Including Saturday, she has averaged 1.98 goals against per game (GAA) and posted a .937 save percentage (SV%) over her past five games.

“My goal is to make sure that I'm keeping calm for my teammates,” said Maschmayer. “I can’t guarantee that I’m going to be my best but I can guarantee my best effort.”

As the ice started to tilt in Vancouver's favour in the second period, Kirk matched Maschmeyer. Kirk hadn’t gotten a win for Toronto since the opening game of the season despite putting up respectable stats: a 2.04 GAA and .928 SV%.

“Bit of a monkey off the back,” said Kirk, “It can be frustrating but we can’t focus on that. To get [a win] I think that will just push us and give us confidence.”

After not being able to score on their first three power plays of the game, defender Savannah Harmon walked down from the hashmarks and wired a shot past Maschmeyer’s blocker to open the scoring for the Sceptres. The much-maligned Toronto power play was no longer the league's worst after the goal, jumping from 7 percent to 9.7 percent and from eighth place in the PWHL to sixth.

“Just excited to have our team score a power play goal honestly,” said Harmon, “In the first period we had some really good looks so it was just nice that we were able to capitalize on them.”

Savannah Harmon scored the game's first goal on the power play (Video by Fredrick Reyes/INTERMISSION SPORTS).

Ryan said the power play units were not confirmed to the players until less than an hour before game time. One unit was given a ten-minute meeting to figure out their own strategies, which paid off. 

“Players are going to do a lot more when they have a little bit of autonomy, they have a little bit of ownership, a little bit of buy-in. It’s tough for them to complain about our breakout or our power play set-up if they've designed it,” he said. “I thought they did great.”

Before they could even announce the goal, Vancouver established pressure in Toronto’s zone and evened up the game. Goldeneyes forward Sarah Nurse, who was recently activated off long-term injury reserve, tipped home a shot from the blue line. 

A homegrown star from Toronto, Nurse played a significant role in the Sceptres’ first two seasons and finished second in the PWHL in points during her first year. But in a bit of a surprising move, Toronto decided to leave the 31-year-old unprotected during last summer's expansion draft.

“Well, I mean, it's a little dramatic to come back after two months off in Toronto at Scotiabank, so I knew that I wanted to make an impact on the ice,” said Nurse. “That doesn't necessarily mean on the score sheet but you have to go to where goals are scored.”

Nurse was also named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster despite this only being her second game of the season. 

“I wanted to come on and make sure that I showed them why I deserve to be on that team,” said Nurse. 

The third period felt like a game where neither team wanted to make the next mistake. In a game where it seemed whichever team scored next on one of two goalies at the top of their game would win, it rang true.

With a huge point up for grabs, Sceptres forward Daryl Watts got back her own rebound, walked wide around the slot and fired a wrist shot past Maschmayer’s glove for the win. 

Daryl Watts' overtime winner sent Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy (Video by Fredrick Reyes/INTERMISSION SPORTS).

Despite tough outings in the Sceptres’ last two games, Watts leads Toronto with six goals and nine points in 12 games this season. Ryan said the two talked after their last game in Boston about how not scoring doesn’t mean Watts has to be slumping.

“I don't know if I've ever called [Watts] elite, but I think it's probably a great way to describe her,” he said. “I think she's learning more about the broader part of the game. I think if she continues to learn that side of it and matches it with her elite offensive ability and that passion to score and create offence, I think in time, she'll become a really, really great player.”

The game was Toronto’s last home game before the PWHL goes on an Olympics break. While their current focus is on carrying a win streak into February, Ryan said the break will be a good opportunity for the players not selected to Olympics players to connect.

“It actually is sometimes the most important time in your season,” he said. “Anytime you get an opportunity to strengthen the depth of your team, you’ve got to take advantage of that.”

UP NEXT: The Sceptres take on the Seattle Torrent at another NHL rink, Climate Pledge Arena, on Monday, Jan. 20 at 10 p.m.

Check out Fredrick's live Instagram coverage of the game at the Intermission Sports instagram: @IntermissionSportsCA