The playoff stage is set for the pc28Sceptres, and the first round gives them a chance at redemption after a heartbreaking end to their inaugural season.
The first-place Montréal Victoire announced Sunday they will face the Ottawa Chargein the first round of the PWHL playoffs, leaving the second-place Sceptres to play the defending championMinnesota Frostin the other semifinal.
TORONTO - It was a fun night for Carly Jackson.
The Sceptres were ousted by the Frost in last year’s post-season after finishing first in the regular season and choosing Minnesota as their first-round opponent.
After pc28won the first two games of the series at home, the Frost won three straight,including a double-overtime thriller in Game 4,and went on to take the first championship in league history.
Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said he was not concerned about any external pressure entering this year’s playoffs.
“I think what makes this group special is that we probably put more pressure on ourselves than anybody in the outside world could ever put on us,” he said.
Minnesota was led this season by captain Kendall Coyne Schofield (12 goals, 12 assists), 2023 top pick Taylor Heise (eight goals, 14 assists) and defenders Sophie Jaques (seven goals, 15 assists) and Claire Thompson (four goals, 14 assists).
“I think we learned a lot from last year’s series, but obviously it’s a new team this year,” said Sceptres defender Renata Fast, who had three goals against the Frost this season. “I’m looking forward to getting started, but I also think, in the back of my mind, I’ll be using it for a little bit of motivation.”
“Losing to Minnesota last year in five games is part of what motivates me and makes me even more excited to get this series started,” Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull said.
Spooner has just five points in 12 games since returning from injury, but that hasn’t weakened
Frost head coach Ken Klee singled out Natalie Spooner as one of the Sceptres’ X-factors. Spooner went down with a knee injury in Game 3 of last year’s series and missed the first 16 games this season.
“She’s finding her scoring touch, which I think we all knew she would,” Klee said. “It’s going to be a tough battle, we know that.”
Klee said that the Frost stayed in Boston after their rout against the Fleet Saturday, with many of their players and staff even attending a Red Sox game as they waited to find out their playoff opponent.
The Sceptres were 1-1-2-2 against the Frost this season, scoring 14 goals and allowing 20. Daryl Watts, Toronto’s leading scorer, had six points against Minnesota while Jesse Compher scored three times.
The Sceptres will host the first two games of the series, which go Wednesday and Friday. Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET both nights.
It’s fair to expect healthy crowds in the post-season; during the regular season and had a cumulative attendance of more than 125,000, the highest in the league.
“Our fans help us out a lot and they mean so much to us,” Turnbull said. “So for us to be able to win for not only this group of players, but to win for our fans and for the city of Toronto, it would be amazing.”
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