PWHL Minnesota won’t play at home again for 10 days but the team sure could use the pick-me-up sooner.
Minnesota turned in a dud Saturday afternoon in Toronto as part of the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, falling 4-1 to complete a three-game road trip. The PWHL now takes a league-wide national team pause that includes a USA/Canada Rivalry Series game at Xcel Energy Center next Sunday.
After a pair of overtime games to open Minnesota’s road slate, this one was all Toronto. It has now won its second in a row, third in the last four and avenged a 3-1 loss in Minnesota on Jan. 10.
“I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Toronto coach Troy Ryan said.
With time winding down in the opening period, Toronto made it 1-0 on the power play. Natalie Spooner’s sixth goal of the season came after her initial shot was blocked by Minnesota goalie Nicole Hensley. But Spooner stuck with the play and swatted home a rebound off Hensley’s left pad.
Minnesota answered eight minutes into the second when captain Kendall Coyne Schofield found the back of the net, her third of the season. The knotted score, however, lasted less than five minutes thanks to Renata Fast’s shot from the point, her first goal of the season.
Toronto put the game away midway through the third when Blayre Turnbull and Spooner scored 16 seconds apart. To the delight of the home crowd at Mattamy Athletic Centre, Spooner also assisted on Turnbull’s goal giving the former Ohio State Buckeye from nearby Scarborough, Ontario, a three-point afternoon.
Hensley made 24 saves in the loss. Toronto’s Kristen Campbell also turned away 24 shots.
