The Toronto Sceptres pulled into second overall, only three points behind first place Montreal, with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Victoire on the road. In front of 10,172 fans at Place Bell, the Sceptres shutdown the Victoire in Sarah Nurse’s return. Toronto rode the strong goaltending of Kristen Campbell who made 32 saves for Toronto in the win.
Jesse Compher scored her ninth goal of the season and fifth against Montreal to open the scoring for Toronto. Natalie Spooner followed it up with her third of the campaign.
In the third period, Marie-Philip Poulin pulled Montreal within one goal, but it’s as close as the Victoire would get.
Nurse Looks Good In Return
Sarah Nurse had an assist and two shots on net in 14:54 of ice time in her first game since suffering an injury February 6 at the Rivalry Series.
“Felt good. I hope I didn’t stick out as much as I thought that I did, but I have a great group around me,” said Nurse. “Playing with (Natalie) Spooner and Emma (Maltais); Emma took it on herself, she said “I’m F1” the whole game, so it’s nice to come to a group that is so supportive and has supported me throughout the entire process here. To come back as we’re heading into the last couple of games in the season is definitely a good runway.”
It’s the first game this season that the Sceptres have played with both Natalie Spooner and Sarah Nurse in the lineup. Spooner returned just as Nurse was injured. Last season the line of Nurse, Spooner, and Maltais was Toronto’s best.
Montreal Struggling, But Remains On Top
The Montreal Victoire looked like the runaway lock for first overall. They built a huge lead midseason, but have since let that lead slip away. Toronto now sits only three points behind Montreal for first overall. Boston is five points back with a game in hand.
Montreal couldn’t find a way to finish their chances in their loss to Toronto.
“Our players need to continue doing what they’re doing and bear down on sticks, just a little bit,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “Maybe win the stick battle in front of the net, be a little bit quicker to shoot, but yeah, there are players in the room who wish they would have probably had more goals. We talked about that today, actually, before the game. And we’ve talked a ton about the net-front and going there if you want to score goals, that’s where we go.”
“We had a lot of shots, and of course we wanted to put a lot of traffic in front of (Kristen) Campbell, who’s a very good goaltender,” said Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin. “It’s up to us to work hard and put those rebounds in the back of the net. It’ll be a great motivation for us before our next game.”
