There was flow, there was structure — but the execution in scoring was not there for the Toronto Sceptres.
Toronto's home-opener Saturday was spoiled with a 3-1 loss to the Boston Fleet, who were largely outplayed offensively and were dominated on puck possession.
But as Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan put it, a lot of his players would like to have some plays back.
"We just we gotta be better offensively and we're not gonna solve this in five or six games," Ryan said. "It's probably gonna take a while, but a team that generally has a lot of physicality or aggression or plays an energy game, sometimes the composure to stay off to the weak side and watch things unfold and join offensively can benefit you. I don't think we did a great job on the weak side of the ice."
Toronto outshot Boston 25-12 and held the Fleet scoreless on three power-play opportunities. Two of those power plays were in the opening period, in which the Fleet managed only two shots on goal and gave up a short-handed goal to Blayre Turnbull.
"You allow them to linger around, that sometimes it comes back to bite you, and I thought that was the case," Ryan said.
"They played us hard on the walls and they made it difficult to get to the middle," Turnbull added. "We'll be working on figuring out ways to get more scoring chances."
The difference proved to be the Fleet being opportunistic despite a subpar offensive performance.
Boston tied, then took the lead on hustle plays that it reaped the rewards on.
Susanna Tapani scored the game-winning goal with 9:40 remaining. Jamie Lee Rattray won a puck battle at the end boards and shoved the puck into the slot from behind the goal with one hand on her stick. The puck found Tapani who fired it past Kirk to silence the home crowd.
"I thought we played well. If you look at that game compared to our first game against Minnesota, we made a lot of improvements," Turnbull said.
"So I think despite the outcome we're pretty happy with how we played that game.
"Structurally we were really good. We gave up a couple chances that they buried on."
The Sceptres were missing star forward Daryl Watts, who has proven to be a gamebreaker that brings both speed and composure to the team's offence, due to injury.
Toronto started the PWHL season with a 2-1 win over the Walter Cup champion Frost in Minnesota.
The Sceptres' power play that led the PWHL last season fell to 0-for-6 this season.
But it was the attitude change with some players when the momentum shifted that Ryan addressed with his team.
"We talked about it in between periods as well, where as much as you're trying to get your power play better and your penalty kill better and your 5-on-5 play and individual stuff better, it's that stuff you gotta work on as well," he said.
"You gotta work on what type of team you want to be when something bad happens. And I felt a little lull."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2025.
