The New York Sirens once again came from behind at home, stealing a 3-2 victory from the Toronto Sceptres on Wednesday at the Prudential Center. They added to their four-game home winning streak as the playoffs get closer and closer.
In a must-win scenario, the Sirens needed to get at least two points in each of their next two games in order to clinch the fourth and final playoff seed. The stakes were even higher as the Sceptres were also fighting for that final spot.
The first period was as sloppy as a dog who hasn’t had water in hours as turnovers were a constant. The Sirens didn’t have great decision making. When they should’ve passed they took a shot instead and when they should’ve shot they made a pass. Had they made better decisions it could’ve been 3-0. For the Sceptres, it was clear their opponent was the better team. Not only did they commit turnovers as well, opponents skated right through the defense past them to the net. While they cleaned up on offense and had some scoring chances, they couldn’t get one past the net.
Action finally picked up in the second period; However there was no goal involved. The Sceptres got on the powerplay early when Jaime Bourbonnais was called for interference a minute and fifteen seconds in. The Sirens would make the kill and they’d have a chance at a man advantage of their own when Emma Maltais was called for cross checking. While they capitalized on defense, they couldn’t reciprocate in the zone.
Scoring finally came into play with five minutes remaining, when on another powerplay, Sceptres forward Daryl Watts skated right to Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne and sniped it past her shoulder. While Toronto got a lucky break short-handed, New York was now 0-2 on the powerplay and trailing.
The Sirens had two-man advantage opportunities early in the third period which were to no avail. They played much smarter and had good chances to tie, but between tough defense and Toronto goalie Raygan Kirk making huge saves nothing was going their way.
New York’s luck took another hit with nearly 11 minutes remaining when Ella Shelton threw the puck at the net along the goal line from the boards and squeezed through the smallest hole between Osborne’s pad and the post to go in. Scoring only her fourth goal of a season, it’s like Shelton hit a one-in-a-million shot.
Despite it now being 2-0, the game was far from over. Thirty-nine seconds later the Sirens responded with a goal of their own as Denisa Křížová found the puck after it popped out in front of the net and backhanded it in. Scoring her first goal with the team, it was a critical goal at a crucial time.
It didn’t stop there. After going 0-for-4, New York finally got a power play goal when Maja Nylén Persson took advantage of the rebound and got it past Kirk. Just like that, 2-0 turned into 2-2.
While luck wasn’t on their side the entire game, it came in the most important moment of all. A little over a minute later, Nicole Vallario took a shot towards the net from the top of the circle into the direction of Casey O’Brien, who tapped it mid-air and into the top of the net. It added to a 3-2 score and things were finally clicking for the Sirens at the right time. The roles were reversed and New York, who was now in front, held on for the win.
Another come-from-behind win for the Sirens happened to be one of the most important wins of the year. At one point they were in a situation where it was a must-win game and nothing seemed to be going how they wanted. I asked Sirens head coach Greg Fargo what he was saying to his players behind the bench when down 2-0:
“It’s not about what I say. At this point in the year, our team knows who we are and how we play. It comes down to their belief in one another and how hard we’re willing to fight together. I liked our third period tonight, how hard we fought to get back into the game. It wasn’t perfect, and some things weren’t going our way, but we showed a lot of resilience and stuck with it.”
Despite New York boosting their chances of making the playoffs, it’s not over yet. They are currently part of a three-way battle for the final spot with Toronto as well as the Ottawa Charge with all teams having only three games remaining. The Sirens will face another important matchup as they head to Ottawa on Saturday.
