TORONTO — Natalie Spooner scored twice and Toronto beat Minnesota 4-1 on Wednesday night to take first place in the Women's Professional Hockey League in its first year.
Toronto (12-4, 0-7) leads Montreal (10-3, 5-5) in the standings with 44 points, with a tiebreaker in case of a tie by the end of the regular season. exceeded. Both teams have one game remaining before the postseason begins next week.
By clinching the No. 1 spot, Toronto would have the option of choosing either the No. 3 or No. 4 team as its first opponent in the playoffs.
Minnesota (8-4, 3-8) has lost its fourth straight game since the season was suspended for the world championship. They play their final game in New York on Saturday and need one point to qualify for the playoffs.
Hannah Miller and Emma Maltais also scored on empty netters for Toronto, which extended its winning streak to three games. Kristen Campbell made 25 saves.
Spooner's two goals extended his lead at the top of the league in points (25) and goals (18). Martais also recorded two assists, leading the league with 15 assists on the season.
Michela Cava scored for Minnesota. Maddie Rooney stopped 19 shots.
This was the last of four regular season games between the teams, with Toronto winning the season series 2-1-0-1.
Cava scored the first goal 4:14 into the first period. Taylor Heise found Maggie Flaherty from behind the net, and Kaba chipped Flaherty's point shot past Campbell.
Miller tied it on a power play at 10:16. Maltais, in the right faceoff circle, sent the puck to Sarah Nurse, who was near the back of the goal, and slotted the pass into the box for Miller to complete the tic-tac-toe play.
Toronto picked things up in the second period.
Jocelyn Larocque was shut down in front of Rooney, Spooner missed another chance and Nurse couldn't get in front of a great pass from Miller.
Spooner put Toronto ahead on a power play 11:10 into the second period. Renata Fast delivered a point shot and Spooner put up his stick.
Spooner added to his goal total to give Toronto the lead 7:21 into the third period. She blocked Lee Stecklein's point shot and immediately went on a breakaway, giving Rooney a good dike and nearly emptying the entire net for the goal.
With 2:05 left in the game, Martais was nearly knocked over by two defenders before scoring into an empty net.
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Minnesota travels to New York for its final regular season game on Saturday.
Toronto hosts Ottawa on Sunday for its final regular season game.
