PWHL Ottawa snapped Toronto’s 11-game win streak on Saturday afternoon. With 8,448 fans in attendance, it was an electric game for Ottawa fans at TD Place Arena.
Courtesy of Kailey Sauve
PWHL Toronto superfan, Debbie Harrison, traveled all the way from Lindsay, Ontario to see Toronto take on Ottawa. Debbie is known for her elaborate, homemade outfits for each game and Saturday’s outfit did not disappoint. Leading up to World’s, Harrison was dressed in a Team Canada outfit to honor and represent all the PWHL players on Team Canada. Harrison was hopeful to see Toronto extend their win streak but given that she was in Ottawa, she mentioned that she’d love to see Ottawa win to aid in their playoff contention.
Courtesy of Kailey SauveL
After a 2-0 deficit to Toronto early in the game, Daryl Watts’ hat trick helped secure the 5-3 win over Toronto. To shorten Toronto’s lead to one, Watts scored her first goal of the game with 4.5 seconds remaining in the period. This was a huge turning point in the game that ultimately led to Ottawa emerging victorious. Along with Watt’s hat trick, Brianne Jenner scored a goal as well as Hayley Scamurra.
Watts’ hat trick erupted the stadium with many fans throwing their hats on the ice to celebrate. With a score of 5-3 and only a couple of minutes left in the game, fans started chanting “End the streak." Ottawa is the only PWHL team to beat first-place Toronto three times this year.
Carla MacLeod, Head Coach of Ottawa, speaks on this crucial win for the team and ending Toronto’s streak on home soil. “In front of our crowd, to win this one obviously feels really nice.” With the break for World’s approaching, MacLeod states: “Going into the break that we’re going into, it’s great timing." When asked about the team’s dynamic, specifically during Saturday’s game, MacLeod kept her response simple, stating, “We’re building a resiliency in our game that, you know, early on we were struggling with. But now we’re at a point that we’re quite comfortable regardless of the scoreboard."
Saturday’s win was huge for Ottawa as it created space between Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot. Ottawa now stands at 27 points, five points above Boston.