Ottawa downs Toronto to remain perfect in PWHL's Battle of Ontario

Ottawa's Professional Women's Hockey League players practised their victory celebration a few weeks ago, but it wasn't until Tuesday night's 3-1 win over Toronto that they could finally put it in action.

The "Ottawa thunderclap" was unveiled to the delight of the 6,316 on hand at TD Place.

"That celebration at the end, just to be in that moment with the fans was incredible," said Emerance Maschmeyer, who made 30 saves.

"We just feel so much passion from [the fans] and we wanted to get our first win for the fans."

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Ottawa held a one-goal lead with 2:16 remaining in regulation when Emily Clark, who scored the first goal, was called for slashing. Toronto pulled goalie Erica Howe for a two-player advantage, but Maschmeyer was solid and Lexie Adzija sealed the win with an empty-net goal.

"It's a challenging game when it's six-on-four but I thought, you know, we managed it well," said Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod. "We stayed in lanes. We played a strong sort of final couple minutes there to earn that opportunity."

Erica Howe, who played part of her minor hockey with the Ottawa Lady Senators, stopped 17 shots for her first hometown appearance.

"I feel bad for her to be honest," said Toronto coach Troy Ryan. "I think a team needs a much greater effort when someone is playing their first start in their hometown."

This marked the second of five meetings between the two teams. Ottawa took the first game 5-1 on Jan. 13. Despite the game being close and his team having the edge in shots, Ryan was critical of his team.

When asked what he liked about its performance he was blunt.

"Not a lot to be honest," he said. "I liked at times our penalty kill. I thought we executed a little bit