Vancouver Goldeneye forward Sarah Nurse (20) moves the puck past Toronto Sceptres forward Blayre Turnbull (40) during first period PWHL hockey action in Toronto on Sunday, March 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

By The Canadian Press

Sceptres fail to get past Goldeneyes after crucial goal, look ahead to playoff push

Mar 29, 2026 | 2:30 PM

TORONTO — Troy Ryan made sure to make note of a thought he had mid-game Sunday.

The cause? Forty-five seconds after captain Blayre Turnbull scored the Toronto Sceptres’ first power-play goal in over two months to even the score, the team surrendered the game winner to Mannon McMahon in the second period of a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Goldeneyes.

The Sceptres head coach penned on his gamecard that his team will lose many games seeing swings that quick.

“You go from (what) should be the high of your season potentially, to a breakaway, a penalty and a power-play goal against,” Ryan said. “You’re just not gonna win hockey games like that.

“It’s not often the general flow, but moments like that can just rip a team apart.”

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Toronto had gone 0-for-15 on the power play since its last goal with the man advantage in a 6-4 loss to Seattle on Jan. 20. The Sceptres went 0-for-12 in seven games after the Olympic break before Turnbull scored her second goal of the game.

Toronto is seventh in the eight-team PWHL in power-play conversion this season at 9.6 per cent. Only Vancouver (9.1 per cent) is worse with the Sceptres being last in power-play opportunities with 52 in 24 games.

“Oh, it was magical,” Ryan jokingly said of the long-awaited power-play goal. “No, I mean, it’s one of those power-play goals you need when you’re out of luck on your side.

“And I don’t know exactly how it went in, but it looked like it hit that (defender’s) skate and went through the five-hole. So at that point, we’ll take it.”

The loss put Toronto on a two-game losing streak with six remaining in the regular season. The Sceptres fell to fifth in the standings after entering the day in the fourth and final playoff spot. Ottawa, which has one game in hand, defeated Seattle 2-0 to settle into fourth on Sunday.

New York, and now Vancouver, also sit just four points behind Toronto with each having a game in hand.

“I think today we wanted to get three points so we could separate ourselves a bit from Ottawa and New York,” Turnbull said. “So, not happy to lose that one, but luckily we’re in a position now that I feel like we are in control of our own destiny.

“And it’s on us to make sure that we’re getting points when we need them.”

On the positive end, the Sceptres put together a stronger performance than it did in a 4-0 loss Friday to league-leading Boston.

Toronto had numerous chances throughout the game, especially in the third period, although Goldeneyes netminder Emerance Maschmeyer proved up to the task for her side.

“We definitely had more chances tonight,” Turnbull said. “We got to be a little hungrier in front to make sure that we’re bearing down and finding rebounds and putting them in. And Troy mentioned after the game that he still believes that we are passing up a lot of shooting opportunities.

“The goalies in this league are really good. And if we want to score, we’ve got to get more pucks to the net. And I think that we’ve got to find a way to bury our second chances, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press