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For the Toronto team that came out on top, the first playoff game in the Women’s Professional Hockey League was everything it could have asked for.

In front of a packed house of 8,473 on Wednesday night, Toronto defeated Minnesota 4-0 in the opener of their best-of-five series – the first glimpse of playoff hockey in this new league.

Natalie Spooner etched her name into the history books for the second time this year, as the PWHL’s inaugural scoring champion scored the league’s first postseason goal. Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull had a two-goal night.

This was the league’s first game inside the Coca-Cola Coliseum – a move prompted by high demand for tickets in the city to see this team. Toronto had played its regular season home games at the 2,500-seat Mattamy Athletic Center this season and sold out all of them.

The PWHL says it has not yet made any decisions about where the Toronto team will play home games next season. But it’s hard to imagine a better audition for the franchise to play more often at Coca-Cola Coliseum, home of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, than Wednesday’s game. The crowd was engaged, filled with blue shirts, families, and many young women with handmade signs with a message like, “MY PWHL.” Tickets for the game were hard to come by – ranging from $32 to $117. Most, outside of a few standing room only, sold out in minutes.

The Toronto team expected to pack the place, especially after selling out the NHL rink in town for one game earlier this year.

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“Having home crowds like this really helps calm the nerves,” Turnbull said. “We knew what to expect, after our game at Scotiabank [Arena]and then selling out these games just as quickly as he did that.”

The league is exploring getting the Toronto PWHL into a bigger home rink next season, even for some games. Teams had 12 home dates in the first season’s 24-game schedule, but that will grow to a 30-game schedule next season, with 15 home dates.

Per the PWHL’s unique playoff rule, top-seeded Toronto had to choose its first-round opponent, either fourth-seeded Minnesota or third-seeded Boston. The State of Hockey team was determined to make Toronto pay for that pick, but in reality, in Game 1, Minnesota looked nothing like the star-powered group they were at times. earlier this year.

The past few days had not been comfortable for Minnesota. The team is back in the playoffs, not by themselves, but thanks to a loss by Ottawa on Sunday. That’s when Minnesota learned it was eligible for the playoffs. Toronto then had 24 hours to decide who to play, leaving the other three playoff teams hanging around for a day, waiting to make travel plans. PWHL teams travel commercially, so Minnesota left home bright and early Tuesday for Toronto.

Spooner opened the scoring midway through the first period, when the Canadian Olympic gold medalist came in on the wing and fired a wrist shot past Minnesota goalkeeper Nicole Hensley, placing it just inside the post. It was the Scarborough native’s 21st of the season in Game No. 25.

The stadium DJ was blaming Toronto’s goal song, Lady Gaga’s Approval, now synonymous with the PWHL’s highest scoring team. A sign from a fan celebrated the 33-year-old juggling a young son: “Spooner=Mom Power.”

Minutes later, after doing a quick interview on the bench, Spooner was back on the ice, pouncing on a mid-ice turnover and racing in for a breakaway with a defenseman clinging to her. Minnesota blocked that opportunity and was tracking Spooner’s every step, but he jumped free to make things happen all night.

Emma Maltais scored Toronto’s second goal, early in the second period. Sarah Nurse carried it from one to the other and then gave a pass to Maltais, who shot Hensley across her crease before putting it in the five hole.

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Spooner set up Toronto’s third goal, putting a pass across the net to Turnbull, who headed it in. Turnbull added another goal in the third. Toronto’s firepower was too much.

“Anytime Spooner has the puck and she’s close to the net, she’s either making an accurate shot where the goalie isn’t, or she’s making a hard pass to someone’s blade,” Turnbull said. . “Snytime she gets the puck in the ozone, you know, she’s a threat.”

Toronto used depth, looked like a balanced, confident and solid team to survive the playoff run. Even the 13th forward had good minutes. No need to lean too heavily on stars yet.

“Our team’s success is in the variation,” said Toronto Coach Ryan.

Minnesota – a talented squad that featured USA national team stars, from Kendall Coyne Schofield to Grace Zumwinkle and No. 1 draft pick Taylor Heise – had opportunities. It outshot Toronto 26-19, 11-4 in the second period alone.

But Toronto goalkeeper Kristen Campbell kicked away or absorbed Minnesota’s efforts, including a slapper from Zumwinkle in close. As Toronto fans have had all season, they responded to Campbell’s saves by splitting SOUP!

Toronto’s league-leading penalty kill was stout once again, denying Minnesota some great opportunities.

As it has been all year, Toronto was blaming Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 after securing the victory, a nod to the girls who now make a living playing hockey.

Game 2 will take place on Friday in Toronto before the series swings to Saint Paul, Minn.

Boston and Montreal will play Game 1 of the other semifinal series at Place Bell, an AHL rink with more than 10,000 seats, on Thursday in Laval, Que. Game 2 of the Toronto series is Friday night.

The final two teams will battle it out for the Walter Cup later this month.

With a playoff crowd to watch on Wednesday, the PWHL released some data on its inaugural season: total attendance of 392,259 for its 72 games; more than 40 corporate sponsors; one million social media followers and 238 million total impressions; plus 100,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, with viewers from 88 countries.

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