Raygan Kirk shines in Toronto net as Sceptres start hot

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Starts have not been a strength of the Toronto Sceptres and while it started that way in Season 3 again, this time they found a way to turn things around.

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Backed by a stellar performance from Raygan Kirk in the Toronto net, the Sceptres ruined the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost ‘s banner-raising night with a 2-1 win.

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Perhaps more than anything it was the Sceptres perseverance that stood out in this one led by a couple of new faces in veteran defender Ella Shelton and rookie Kiara Zanon with goals to put this one in the win column.

Here are some early takeaways from Game 1 of the 2025-26 season.

KIRK GETS THE NOD

Head coach Troy Ryan and his staff had a choice to make. The homegrown talent coming back from injury to start the year in the Sceptres net or the shiny new penny they picked up in free agency from the Montreal Victoire.

Ryan and his group went with the face they knew best in Raygan Kirk and she did not disappoint.

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Kirk got the start with veteran Elaine Chuli backing up and Kirk made a strong play to earn No. 1 honours.

With Toronto showing plenty of nerves in that first period, it was Kirk who kept the game within reach, never moreso than when she stopped a mid-period Kelly Pannek penalty shot that seemed to spur Toronto to find their legs and get fully into the game.

For the game Kirk turned aside 30 of the 31 shots she faced, the only one that got past her was a tip-in by Kendall Coyne Schofield that she had no chance on.

Ryan has been clear since his very first media availability that both Kirk and Chuli will have the opportunity to grab a No. 1 role.

Kirk has set the bar extremely high.

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TOUGH WAY TO START

The only indication there was anything amiss with the Toronto Sceptres health heading into the season was when Ryan mentioned on a conference call mid-week that Renata Fast would not be taking part in that day’s practice but should be good to go for the season opener.

But come puck drop there was no Fast as the league’s reigning defender of the year sat out the game with an undisclosed upper body injury.

It’s a big blow for any team but particularly for a team that has come to rely on a player of Fast’s versatility.

She sets the physical tone every night for this team, plays more minutes than anyone in the league and is as valuable in her own end as she is in the other.

The Sceptres have to be hoping her absence is a short one.

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A YEAR AGO IT WOULD HAVE REALLY HURT

Losing Fast last season even for a game would have been an entirely tougher scenario last season than the one the Sceptres faced last night.

And that was directly related to the arrival of Ella Shelton into the Toronto room. The acquisition of Shelton on draft night for the Sceptres first round (third overall) pick that would become Casey O’Brien is a move that has not received the attention it probably deserved.

Shelton’s impact was all over this game from the game-tying goal in the first to her strong play in her own end and the physical presence she showed throughout.

One thing fans in Toronto have to be salivating about is seeing Shelton and Fast sharing the blue line on a Sceptres power play. The Sceptres were a force on the power play a year ago but those two playing together could take it to another level.

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SPOONER SIGNALS BIG THINGS TO COME

Natalie Spooner has been a bit of a big topic around the Sceptres this pre-season and even her Canadian National team teammates this summer.

All the talk has been about a fully healthy Spooner and thoughts of what she might do in Year 3 after a torn ACL and the subsequent rehab robbed her of half of last season. Even the second half in which she played  offered up just a portion of the Spooner Sceptres fans came to appreciate in Year 1 when she won the league’s first MVP award.

But now with a full off-season to actually train rather than just rehab, Spooner has that jump back and it was evident in Game 1.

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Spooner had a hand in both goals the Sceptres scored with the primary assist on Shelton’s goal and the secondary on Zanon’s marker.

She was back in her office in front of the net creating havoc most of the evening. About the only thing that didn’t go totally right were the handful of times she got to the net with the puck on her stick only to see it roll off. We’ll call it first night jitters and leave it at that.

QUICK HITS

Scary moment when Sceptres leading scorer Daryl Watts needed help getting up after taking a hard hit into the dasher. Watts missed a few shifts including one in which Zanon scored the game winner, but was back on the ice after receiving some attention in the Toronto locker room …. P.E.I.’s first woman in the PWHL, Abby Hustler, made her presence known in her first game in Frost colours. The feisty Hustler was extremely physical in this one, exchanging unpleasantries with Savannah Harmon at one point and throwing that potentially scary hit on Watts in another moment …. The Zanon goal was her third in three games for the Sceptres second-round pick from last season’s draft … The Kelly Pannek penalty shot in the first period was just the fifth in league history and Kirk became the fifth goaltender to win those one-on-one battles.

mganter@postmedia.com

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