A collective sigh of relief was echoed by the near-sellout crowd at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, from fans of both the Sceptres and visiting Vancouver Goldeneyes. Sarah Nurse, named to Canada’s Olympic team last week, played her first game since November 21 after sustaining an upper-body injury.
Not missing a beat, Nurse deflected a point shot from defender Nina Jobst-Smith to net her second goal in as many games played this season. It was her team’s only goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Sceptres.
“I’ve had a bird’s eye view, and so I’ve been able to not necessarily have the pulse on the ice, “ Nurse said at her post-game media availability. “But being able to look and speak to my teammates about what I’ve been seeing, I think, has been really helpful.”
Team Canada will certainly be looking for Nurse’s playmaking ability to boost its offense in Milano Cortino, Italy, next month in an attempt to defend the gold medal. At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the now 31-year-old Hamilton, Ont. native set records for a single Winter Games with 13 assists and 18 points.
Toronto coach Troy Ryan – also the bench boss for Team Canada – said there were few surprises in his national team protégé’s return to the ice. “It doesn’t change (the game plan) a lot, “ he said. “I even think from a coach’s point of view…they’ll discuss it and talk about tactics, concepts — all those things. Ultimately, the players have to go execute it, so I don’t think there’s a ton of secrets in hockey. I think Sarah knows some [Sceptres] players pretty deeply and would know how certain players may react in certain situations. But we also know how Sarah is going to act.”
Saturday’s game marked the third annual Battle on Bay Street, and was played in front of 17,856 fans. Daryl Watts’s overtime tally helped snapped Toronto’s four-game losing streak. Savannah Harmon had the Sceptres other goal. In last year’s edition of the Scotiabank Arena-hosted event, Nurse had the game-winner in Toronto’s win over the New York Sirens.
As the Goldeneyes strive to stay in the playoff hunt, the team will lean on Nurse for production; Vancouver is just one of two teams scoring fewer than two goals per game, Toronto being the other.
“Obviously having Sarah back was a bit of a lift, and I thought had a real impact on the bench, in the locker room, the whole feeling in and around the club. So, can’t wait to get back, honestly,” Goldeneyes coach Brian Idalski said.
Toronto and Vancouver were the last two teams to face each other in a PWHL game this season, however it won’t be long before they re-familiarize. They will faceoff again on Thursday, January 22; the Goldeneyes’ next game and the Sceptres’ second game of a three-game road trip to close out their pre-Olympic schedule.
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