Spooner scores 2 shootout goals to lift PWHL Toronto over New York for 5th straight win

Natalie Spooner scored the shootout winner to lead Toronto to its fifth straight win, defeating visiting New York 2-1 on Friday in Professional Women’s Hockey League action.

Emma Maltais scored in regulation for Toronto (7-5-0), which has also won six of its last seven.

Kristen Campbell made 26 saves in regulation and overtime.

Ella Shelton scored for New York (6-4-2), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Corinne Schroeder stopped 29 shots.

Toronto went up 3-1-0 in the season series, having won three straight now against New York since a 4-0 home loss on Jan. 1 in the PWHL’s first-ever game.

WATCH l Spooner shines in shootout:

The home side started fast with seven shots less than five minutes into the opening period. Spooner was closest to scoring with a shot in tight followed by a wraparound attempt that Schroeder just got across to stop at 1:02.

Campbell stood tall against a few strong chances from New York, including a Paetyn Levis shot in the slot after a Toronto giveaway at 10:27.

Both sides played a relatively even second period, with Toronto outshooting New York 11-9 to hold an overall 23-18 edge.

Campbell made her most impressive stop to that point when she slid across the crease for a pad save on a tap-in effort from a streaking Alex Carpenter at 9:01.

Brittany Howard broke out on a 3-on-1 and sent a cross-ice pass to Jesse Compher who fired away but was stopped with 1:45 left in the frame on Toronto’s best opportunity yet.

Sarah Nurse crashed head first into the post after streaking down the ice for a scoring chance and knocked the net out of place with 2:18 left. She was down momentarily but got up under her own power and continued play.

Shelton tied the game with just 8.6 seconds remaining. She roofed it past a sprawling Campbell on a feed from Emma Woods to push the game to overtime.

With 1:42 left in overtime, Nurse took a hooking penalty in 3-on-3 play that was whistled seconds later as she almost went down the ice on a breakaway to a chorus of boos.

Campbell stonewalled Abby Roque in front with a pad save as 41 seconds remained in the frame and New York on the 4-on-3 power play to push the game to a shootout.

Toronto heads south of the border to face Minnesota on Tuesday, while New York continues its road trip with a visit to Ottawa on Wednesday.

The full schedule of PWHL games airing on CBC Sports this season is available here.