TORONTO — The Toronto Sceptres’ season is down to a couple of giant “ifs” after an overtime loss to the New York Sirens on Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
The Sceptres needed a win to control their destiny and be the last team to crack the PWHL playoffs, but despite goaltender Raygan Kirk’s best efforts, a 1-0 loss to New York means Toronto needs help to squeak into the post-season.
Ottawa plays Boston on Wednesday night, and Toronto needs an Ottawa loss or overtime win to stay alive in the playoff race. If either scenario happens, the Sceptres will go head-to-head against Ottawa on Saturday in the nation’s capital in their final game of the season, and the winner will earn the PWHL's fourth and final playoff berth.
“Everybody cross your fingers for tomorrow, and then we’ll have a Battle of Ontario on Saturday,” Kirk said after making 32 saves in the losing effort.
“If things do work out and it’s a do-or-die game for us, then it would just be an unbelievable atmosphere, and a really fun game,” added forward Daryl Watts of the potential match-up against Ottawa.
The single point earned Tuesday means Toronto is now one point back of the Charge, who currently hold that last playoff spot. With a regulation win over Boston , Ottawa — last year’s Walter Cup finalists — will join league-leading Montreal, along with Boston and Minnesota, in the playoffs. A loss or overtime win means it’ll come down to the Battle of Ontario.
So, Toronto is in wait-and-see mode after picking up just one point Tuesday.
“It just kind of sucks that our destiny was in our hands and, you know, we kind of failed,” said Watts, who leads Toronto with 19 points.
“I think it’s unfortunate, we definitely let it slip away,” added head coach Troy Ryan.
Kirk gave her team a chance to win — in the third period, she made an incredible pad save on Casey O’Brien on a breakaway, then shut the door on a one-timer from Maddi Wheeler, a sequence that had the crowd chanting “Kirky! Kirky! Kirky!”
“She’s playing unbelievable,” Watts said. “She’s been on an incredible run, and when you have a goalie playing as well as Kirky’s been playing, you can win a championship. So, hopefully things work out down the stretch here so that we can get a shot at it.”
The good news for Toronto is that Saturday’s game, if it turns out to be meaningful, is on the road: Of their 12 home games this season, the Sceptres won just two in regulation.
Tuesday was scoreless until late in the third, and New York pulled its goalie with just over a minute left, needing a regulation win to stay alive in the playoff race.
The game going to overtime meant New York joined Vancouver and Seattle in being mathematically eliminated from the post-season.
Still, the Sirens team that ended each of the last two seasons in last place ended this campaign on a winning note: With 2:18 to go in overtime, Allyson Simpson scored the winner for New York, silencing a crowd of 8,685 which had been cheering “We want playoffs!”
Fans in Toronto still may get the playoffs, but they’ll need some help from Boston (a win) and Ottawa (a loss, or overtime win).
“I think we’ll definitely be glued to the TV,” Kirk said. “It’s a bit out of our control. We just did that to ourselves today, unfortunately, but hopefully it works in our favour.”
“If we do get a chance, then we’ll give it all we have,” Watts added.