There were no signs of stage fright for the PWHL Toronto team as they put together a great performance in front of the biggest crowd that they’ve ever faced in their careers.
To give an idea of how excited the home crowd was, Toronto head coach Troy Ryan said that players got “notifications on their watch saying the environment was too loud.”
A total of 19,285 fans attended the game, the largest crowd to ever attend a women’s hockey event. Indeed, it was the second-largest crowd ever to watch a hockey game at the Vault.
PWHL Toronto and Montreal in action shortly after puck drop. Photo credit: Andre Leal
“Even as a middle-aged man walking on the bench, I was emotional,” Ryan said.
The record was previously owned by PWHL Minnesota, set in January with 13,316 in attendance at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild.
Toronto had won four of their last five games heading into this matchup, a complete turnaround compared to how they started the campaign.
They lost four out of five games to start the season.
“None of us were happy with the start to the season we had,” forward Jesse Compher said,
Montreal defender Erin Ambrose said it was expected that Toronto would pick up their game.
“They have too many good players on that team,” she said.
The sell-out crowd had to be patient to see the first goal of the game as the first two periods were littered with puck battles and perfect goaltending. Nevertheless, the fans were engaged throughout the evening despite not seeing a goal until the third.
Compher opened the scoring early in the third period and at that moment, Scotiabank Arena exploded.
“To have the support we had here tonight all these fans in-person, when I got my first goal, is something that was special,” she said.
Toronto’s penalty-killing unit was put to the test all game long as they took six minor penalties.
Ryan said he’s not worried that the team took half a dozen penalties in this game and that he’s comfortable with his team playing physically. He believes that some of those calls wouldn’t be made in other games.
He did give the penalty killers a well-deserved tip of the cap.
“It’s really good when you can be successful on the penalty kill,” he said.
Toronto was able to prevail thanks to a great effort by the penalty-killers and goaltender Kristen Campbell.
Through the course of the game, whenever Campbell would smother the puck or make a big save, the crowd would chant, “Soup” in support of the Brandon, Man., native. As a result, she was named First Star.
“She’s our backbone, we’re so lucky to have her,” forward Hannah Miller said.
In Campbell’s last four games, including this win against Montreal, she’s secured two shutouts and is leading the league. She boasts .969 save percentage.
With less than five minutes remaining, Miller doubled Toronto’s lead. To follow up on that goal, Victoria Bach put home the empty netter to seal the deal.
Toronto’s will be looking to extend their winning streak to five games in their next game against New York on Feb. 23.