TORONTO — Toronto Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull and her rookie teammate Julia Gosling picked a good time for breakthrough performances.
In desperate need of a victory before an 11-day international break, Turnbull scored twice and set up Gosling for her first Professional Women's Hockey League goal to push the Toronto Sceptres to a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Charge on Saturday.
For Turnbull, it was the perfect tonic before her two-game tour of duty with the Canadian national team in the latest chapter of its Rivalry Series with the United States.
The games are slated for Halifax on Thursday and Summerside, P.E.I. on Saturday. The Sceptres captain is excited to play in both games, but especially the outing in Halifax because she hails from Stellarton, N.S.
"To play for the national team in my home province is something that I never really expected to get the chance to do," said Turnbull, who played in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax. "So I'm pretty excited about it."
Turnbull has been playing some of her best hockey leading into the two Atlantic coast stops. She credits her recent performances to a shift in her mindset of "not trying to be perfect all the time."
"Everybody can say the right things consistently over time, but the people that do the right things are the ones that should get rewarded, and that's what's happening right now with Blayre," said Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan, also the Canadian national team coach.
Gosling will remain home in Toronto to gear up for the second half with some of her other Sceptres teammates. The 2024 first-round selection, sixth overall, admitted to gaining some comfort now that she broke through for a goal in her 15th game.
"I was honestly getting lots of chances, so I knew it was going to come soon enough," Gosling said. "I've been playing with some great players and been getting some good chances.
"So for it to finally go in the back of the next, I definitely felt some relief. But I wasn't too stressed about it."
The win before 8,351 at Coca-Cola Coliseum halted a two-game slide for the Sceptres (5-0-4-6) and pushed them into fourth place from last place past the Charge (5-0-2-8) and the Boston Fleet in the six-team PWHL.
"It was huge," Turnbull said of the win. "I think with the timing of the break, it's really important for us to end on that note.
"We've been getting points, but not the three-point wins that we've been wanting. We've been working hard and moving in the right direction, and getting that one was timely."
When the Sceptres return to action at home against the defending champion Minnesota Frost on Feb. 11, there is a good chance Toronto will have league MVP Natalie Spooner back in uniform.
She's been out since undergoing off-season knee surgery after being hurt in the first-round playoff series against Minnesota last spring.
"She's close," Ryan said. "It's good to have her back in the mix, and we're looking forward to the day she (returns)."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2025.
Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press
