PWHL Toronto entering playoffs on a high thanks to hard-fought win

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Were anyone still uncertain of PWHL Toronto’s commitment to taking home the Walter Cup this year, those doubts were eviscerated Sunday night.

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In a seemingly meaningless game for Toronto that was life or death for an Ottawa team facing elimination, it was Toronto that ultimately played like their playoff lives depended on it.

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That’s not to say Ottawa didn’t completely empty its own tanks in terms of effort and compete. Just that Toronto was a little bit better at the end of the day.

And what that should confirm to anyone watching at home or in the stands is that Toronto is right where it needs to be as the first PWHL playoffs begin Wednesday night.

As of this writing, Toronto had not yet announced its choice for first-round opponent, a twist introduced by a league willing and open to trying anything to bring a little more excitement to the product.

That call was expected about 7:30 p.m. Monday between the third and fourth place finishers Boston and Minnesota respectively. By finishing first overall, Toronto earned that right.

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Truth be told, we don’t believe Toronto needs the advantage.

The way they came out Sunday night, and but for a brief few minutes midway through the game, spoke volumes about what is in store for whatever team stands opposed Wednesday night.

Even with a regulation loss Toronto would have been in the same controlling position. The only difference would have been in its choices.

But while many, this space included, routinely referenced Sunday’s regular season finale as “meaningless” in the run-up to it, winning this final game was important to Toronto for many reasons.

“I think we came into this game understanding we had a playoff spot but knowing from here on out we have to end a team’s season every time we play them,” Toronto forward Sarah Nurse said. “(Sunday night) that was the first opportunity. Going into this game we knew that if we won, Ottawa was done. And so that’s what wanted to do and ultimately send a message to the rest of the league too that we are not taking our foot off the gas.

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‘We had first-place locked up, we had a playoff spot and we still wanted to go out and win,” Nurse said. “I think that is a testament to the character in the room.”

Nurse was big part of making sure that statement landed. She scored the go-ahead goal in the first period on a determined drive to the net from the corner with defenders draped all over her and then set up Natalie Spooner (who else) with what turned out to be the game winner just over five minutes into the third on the Toronto power play.

With those two points Nurse finishes her own inaugural season tied for second in the overall points race with Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Alex Carpenter at 23 points, four back of teammate Natalie Spooner who will go down as the league’s first ever points leader not to mention goal-scoring crown winner too.

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Spooner added two more goals to give her a tidy 20 in 24-league games, Behind her tied with Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle was Nurse, both with 11.

Those accomplishments are noteworthy and historic, this being the first year of a league set up to stand the test of time, but on a team with much bigger goals in mind, they are mere footnotes in Toronto.

The fact that this team, that clinched a playoff berth a couple of weeks ago, begins what they hope will be a championship run in a few days still riding a competitive high is rare in sports. The value of this is not lost on the players.

“I think this was good for us,” Spooner said of the hard-fought game to end the season on. “I think if you kind of look at it like another series, a Game 5 say, it was do or die for them so we knew we were going to have to bring our best because they were going to throw everything they had at us. I think we were really able to manage it well and not get too high and too crazy. Everyone got a little excited when I scored (in the third) but it was ‘Hey, let’s just calm  down. We still got (10) minutes left. Let’s just keep playing.’

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“But I thought we did really good job of managing this game and I think we can probably still be even better, but it was a good learning opportunity for us going into these playoffs.”

That mindset will serve them well in the coming days and weeks.

And in case this wasn’t already clear, this Toronto team from one end of the roster to the other heads into these playoffs feeling very good about themselves.

“I think we’ve earned a lot of confidence,” Nurse said. “Being able to play all these teams throughout the season, everybody is different so it’s harder to play against certain teams than others, not harder, but different.

“I think we have shown we can play against every single team in the league and have some success so going into playoffs we want to continue to have that confidence knowing that it’s not going to be easy but understanding we have been here before and we’re playing playoff hockey right now,” she said.

“The switch is on. We don’t have to switch the switch to on in playoffs.”

It’s a great frame of mind to be in at this very important juncture in their season.

Game 1 of Toronto’s best-of-five semi-final series begins Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. puck drop at Coca Cola Coliseum. Opponent is TBA.

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