Fourth-seed PWHL Minnesota dropped the first game of their best-of-five semifinal series against first-seed Toronto 4-0 at Coca-Cola Coliseum Wednesday night.
Blayre Turnbull netted two goals and Natalie Spooner added a goal and an assist in their statement game-one win where the State of Hockey squad could not handle the home side’s waves of offense.
“We played a good game. We had a couple of mental mistakes, individual mistakes, and they capitalized,” Minnesota’s head coach Ken Klee told media following the game. “If you look at the game as a whole, we got down and were chasing, and that’s the tough part.”
The PWHL’s leading goal scorer, Natalie Spooner, scored the first playoff goal in league history halfway through the opening period. The Scarborough, Ont., product used Lee Stecklein as a screen and sniped a slick shot past Nicole Hensley to give Toronto the edge.
Emma Maltais scored 55 seconds into the middle frame following a sneaky feed from Sarah Nurse. The Olympian caught Minnesota’s defenders puck-watching, allowing Maltais to sneak in behind the defense, receive a net-front pass and pot a backhander five-hole through Hensley.