PWHL Toronto secures first overall with convincing win over Minnesota

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The rest of the PWHL might want to brush up on their special teams if they hope to knock Toronto off its pedestal come playoff time.

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The No. 1 penalty-killing team in the league suddenly has a pretty impressive power play to go with it.

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A pair of power-play goals and a perfect 3-for-3 night on the power kill as it’s referred to around here, was just the recipe for win No. 16 on the year as Toronto secured first place overall with a 4-1 win over visiting Minnesota.

Minnesota, for the fourth consecutive game, failed to secure its spot in the playoffs and will now take that into their final game against New York on Saturday.

Minny only needed a point to lock in their spot in the playoffs but Toronto, despite allowing the first goal of the game, wasn’t going to be the team to give it to them.

Offensively, it was another Natalie Spooner night as the league’s leading goal scorer and point-getter added two more goals to her total, giving her 18 on the season.

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The first came on the Toronto power play, which has been getting plenty of attention in practice the past couple of weeks.

It gave Toronto its first lead of the game with Spooner in her office in front of the net and tipping home a Renata Fast drive from the point past Maddie Rooney.

Spooner’s second of the night came on a breakaway.

She picked off a pass between two Minnesota defenders and was on a break from basically her own blue line.

With that much time to set up the goaltender, Spooner made no mistake going to her patented deke with Rooney biting on the first move hard as Spooner brought it back to her forehand for the easy tap into the empty side of the net.

Easily the prettiest goal of the night and maybe the entire Toronto season was Toronto’s first goal on the power play.

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On a set play, Toronto worked the puck back to the blue line to Fast, who gave it right back to Emma Maltais down low. She fed it below the goal line to Sarah Nurse, who was parked just off the edge of the net.

Nurse’s pass to Hannah Miller coming off the opposite point towards the net was so quick and so on target and Miller’s shot so perfect it was in the back of the net before anyone on the ice could react.

Maltais, who assisted on two of the first three goals, added an empty-netter to cap off the victory.

With the win and first place overall sewed up, Toronto can now choose their first-round opponent from between the third- and fourth-place finishers. The identity of those two teams remains to be determined.

Home ice throughout the playoffs is now also guaranteed.

mganter@postmedia.com

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