Raygan Kirk to the rescue as Sceptres get right back into the playoff hunt

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Published Apr 19, 2026  •  2 minute read

Raygan Kirk of the Toronto Sceptres posted a 23-save shutout on Sunday in a 2-0 win over the Frost in Minnesota. Photo by Steph Chambers /Getty Images

The Toronto Sceptres were in a must-win situation on Sunday afternoon and Raygan Kirk made sure they got the result they needed.

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The goaltending conversation for the season in the PWHL has been dominated by the duo of Boston’s Aerin Frankel and Montreal’s Ann-Renee Desbiens and for good reason. But Toronto’s Kirk is making a bid, particularly in her past five games, to at least join the talk.

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Kirk played arguably her best game since taking over as Toronto’s No. 1 goalie this season turning aside 23 shots in a 2-0 road victory over the Minnesota Frost that keeps the Sceptres in the hunt for the fourth and final playoff berth in the PWHL.

The win lifted Sceptres to within two points of the fourth-place Ottawa Charge with two games remaining in the regular schedule for both sides.

Savannah Harmon gave Kirk all the support she needed on the Sceptres’ first shot of the game on a rare power-play goal. A clean faceoff win to Frost goalie Maddie Rooney’s right put the puck directly back to Harmon, whose high screened shot found the top of the net for her second goal of the year.

It was the early lead the Sceptres had been hoping for and Kirk made it stand up.

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Kirk spent the rest of the afternoon frustrating the Frost, who were throwing everything they had at her from tipped shots to screened shots to simply a volume of shots with nothing able to beat the steady netminder.

Over her past six games, Kirk has allowed just five goals with the Sceptres picking up wins in four of those games.

As much as Kirk stood out in this one, no single player has the kind of afternoon she had without some help and Toronto’s defence corps was there for its goalie. Kirk made every first stop and the defence made sure there wasn’t a follow-up on those  few occasions that Kirk allowed a rebound.

The special teams game couldn’t have gone any better for Toronto. The game pitted Toronto’s worst power play in the league against Minnesota’s league-best power play and the Sceptres completely flipped the script.

Both goals, Harmon’s in the first and Daryl Watts’ 10^th of the year in the dying minutes, came on the power play, just the Sceptres’ sixth and seventh power play goals all season.

Just as importantly were the five short-handed situations the Sceptres faced stopping the league’s best with the player advantage each time. Kirk stood tall in those moments, as well.

Ottawa will play Boston and Toronto will take on New York early in the week before the Charge and Sceptres wrap up the season Saturday in Ottawa for the final game of the schedule.

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