PWHL Toronto beats Boston as winning streak reaches 8 games

Toronto head coach Troy Ryan wants his team to send a clearer message to its opponents going forward.

Natalie Spooner had a goal and an assist as Toronto won its eighth straight game, defeating Boston 3-1 in a Professional Women's Hockey League game Wednesday.

Toronto held a 4-0 edge before giving up two unanswered goals and eventually taking a 5-2 win over Ottawa on Saturday. On Wednesday, Toronto took a 3-0 lead into the third period.

"I think the big thing is just when you do get those leads late in the game, not giving anybody any life," Ryan said. "You always want to be able to send a message to your group but also to the opposition.

"I think we could be clearer with that message."

WATCH l Spooner scores beauty in win over Boston:

On the other hand, Ryan finds it encouraging that his group still has plenty to improve upon in the middle of such a win streak.

"It's nice to be able to make comments and still have things to fix when you're winning hockey games," he said. "They deserve a lot of credit for sticking with it.

"Even the message in the dressing room, I didn't really speak a whole lot. The players spoke. They're not necessarily fully satisfied with where they're at, so they'll just continue to get better."

Allie Munroe and Maggie Connors also scored for Toronto (10-5-0), which has also won nine of its last 10 games. Kristen Campbell made 22 saves in front a sellout crowd of 2,479 at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

It was Toronto's second straight victory over Boston, following up a 5-3 win Feb. 14. Toronto leads the season series 2-1 with Boston taking the first game 3-2 on Jan. 17.

"I think rivalries are brewing everywhere around this league because every game is really so important now," Spooner said.