OTTAWA, ON (January 23, 2024) — Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner each scored first period goals for Ottawa in a 3-1 win against Toronto at The Arena at TD Place in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Clark scored at 5:00 of the first period to give her team an early 1-0 lead—her first-ever PWHL goal. The forward scored after she threw the puck on net from the goal line near the corner, which banked off the inside of Toronto goaltender Erica Howe’s pad and into the back of the net.
Jenner’s tally at 12:00 of the first period gave her team a 2-1 lead and held as the eventual game winner. The goal, the first of the season for the captain, was assisted by Amanda Boulier.
The goal came after Boulier cut off Toronto’s attempted breakout pass up the middle which kept the puck in the offensive zone. She then sped towards Toronto’s net and dropped the puck back to Jenner, who snapped it past Howe.
Lexie Adzija officially put the game away for her team with a shorthanded, empty-net goal with just 43 seconds left in the third, which she scored from behind Ottawa’s goal line. The marker also freed teammate Clark from the penalty box.
The 3-1 win is Ottawa’s first on home ice after their first two attempts resulted in overtime losses, to Montréal and Minnesota. Ottawa’s first-ever win also came in regulation against Toronto ten days ago at Mattamy Athletic Centre, with a final score of 5-1.
Toronto winger Brittany Howard’s first PWHL goal came at 11:08 of the first period. Captain Blayre Turnbull had the helper— her first PWHL point. The tally tied the game 1-1 for just 42 seconds before Jenner restored the home team’s lead.
Ottawa goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer made 30 saves to secure her second regulation win of the season. She’s started all four of Ottawa’s games. Howe made 17 saves in in the loss, her first start of the season.
Up next, Ottawa returns to action on Wednesday night for the first back-to-back games on the PWHL schedule when they host Boston at 7:00 p.m. ET. On Friday, Toronto hosts New York, which will be the third game between the two teams this season. Through the first two games, each road team has won in regulation.
Postgame Quotes:
Ottawa Captain Brianne Jenner on the team’s first win on home ice: “It was really exciting. We wanted to get that win for the fans tonight. We have been obviously really close with those two home games so far. It feels really good—our fans are so loud, the environment here is unbelievable. To get the three points tonight feels really good.”
Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod on her team’s play: “Did we make it more difficult on ourselves? Well, the game wasn’t the smoothest by any means. A lot of it goes to Toronto. They played such a high-pressure style of game. It took us a little bit to adjust. We made a couple of adjustments that benefited us [at certain] points. Certainly, it was a well-contested match and I think that we found our way.”
Toronto head coach Troy Ryan on his team’s play: “I think we started to play a bit better [in the second and third periods]. Instead of pinching on rimmed pucks [we] started to protect the middle of the ice a little bit more. That’s how we have to play, I just think it was a little bit too late.”
Notes:
- Attendance: 6,316 — The Arena at TD Place, Ottawa, ON
- Three Stars: 1) Brianne Jenner 2) Emerance Maschmeyer 3) Brittany Howard
- Final shots were 31-20 for Toronto – They outshot Ottawa 9-6 in the first and 13-5 in the third— Shots were 9-9 in the second.
- Toronto has outshot their opponent in all but one game this season (January 13 vs. Ottawa).
- Brittany Howard and Emma Maltais each had 4 shots for Toronto, the most among all players — Teammate Renata Fast had 3 shots, as did Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner and Hayley Scamurra.
- Ottawa was 0/2 on the powerplay — Toronto was 0/4.
- Ottawa now sits second in the league in PK%, with a rate of 90.9% — Toronto is fourth with a rate of 87.5%.
- Ottawa has scored first in each of their four games played this season.
- Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Savannah Harmon assisted on Emily Clark’s first period goal — Ashton Bell and Zoe Boyd assisted on Lexie Adzija’s empty-net goal.
- Four different Ottawa defenders recorded an assist which is the most widespread blue line production in a PWHL game this season.
- Adzija and Bell are Ottawa’s leaders in points with four each.
- Adzija has recorded a point in all four of Ottawa’s games.
- Clark’s first period goal was scored on Ottawa’s first shot on net in the game.
- With the victory, Ottawa becomes the third PWHL with a win on home ice — Montréal and Minnesota have also won home games.
- Ottawa (2-0-2-0) now sits in third place in the PWHL standings with eight points — They have yet to lose a game in regulation.
- Toronto (1-1-0-5) remains tied for fifth place with five points and are the first team to play seven games.
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