Emma Maltais scored a go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Sara Hjalmarsson and Kali Flanagan added empty netters in the final two minutes to give the Toronto Sceptres a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Torrent on Friday night.
Toronto had gone winless in four straight road games and was held scoreless in its last two games before the Olympic break. The victory snapped both streaks for the Sceptres, who improved to 5-1-3-8 on the season. Four different Toronto players scored their first goal of the season in the win.
Jesse Compher scored 28 seconds into the game for Toronto off a back pass from Daryl Watts, who led Canada in her Olympic debut with eight points on two goals and six assists. Renata Fast gave Toronto a 2-1 lead on her first goal of the season 4:25 into the second period with a shot from a sharp angle that bounced off the stick of goaltender Hannah Murphy.
Maltais scored her third goal of the season after getting past the defense for a two-on-one opportunity early in the third period. Both goals for Seattle came in the final 80 seconds of the first and second periods. Aneta Tejralová had a one-timer to tie it at 1-all with 11.2 seconds left in the first period, and Natalie Snodgrass sent in a rebound off Alex Carpenter’s breakaway shot with 1:12 left in the second.
Seattle, which was without Hilary Knight due to a lower-body injury suffered at the Olympics, announced the game was the first sellout in franchise history with 17,335 fans. The crowd marked a significant milestone for the Torrent, who have built strong fan support in their inaugural season. Despite the loss, Seattle remains competitive with a 4-1-2-8 record.
