Top Line in Tip-Top Shape for Toronto Sceptres

Through the first four games of the PWHL's season, one line that has started to form as a steady presence on the Toronto Sceptres' offense consists of left winger Daryl Watts and right winger Natalie Spooner, centered by Emma Maltais. As the season progresses, don't be surprised to see this powerhouse offensive line continue to hit the ice together—and succeed while doing so.

Spooner and Maltais played together quite often on a line last season, often with Sarah Nurse on the other side. Nurse, of course, is now out west with the Vancouver Goldeneyes, but Watts has quite effectively slipped into the open space on that line, which is arguably Toronto's top line (even if it may not always be listed as such on the roster sheets.)

The trio have combined for seven points this season, including two goals. They've also been the most-utilized of the Sceptres' forwards: Maltais leads the offense with an average of 20:20 ice time per game, with Spooner (19:47) and Watts (18:42) not far behind.

In the season-opening 2-1 win over the Minnesota Frost, Spooner had the primary assist on Ella Shelton's goal and added a secondary assist on Kiara Zanon's career-opening goal. Maltais notched the primary assist. Watts took a hard hit early in the third period, got off the ice under her own power, and didn't return.

Watts missed the team's second game, a 3-1 loss to the Boston Fleet, due to an upper-body injury, possibly sustained as a result of the aforementioned hit. Spooner and Maltais remained on a line together, completed by Sara Hjalmarsson, but were kept off the scoresheet.

Thankfully, Watts' absence was limited to just one game. She returned for the 3-1 win over the Ottawa Charge on December 4 and made an immediate impact. After scoring the team's opening goal early in the second period, she also registered the primary assist on Spooner's goal later in the period. Maltais, naturally, had the secondary assist.

The line remained together for the Sceptres' fourth game of the season, but held off the scoresheet in the 3-1 loss. Still, even through this very early portion of the season and with a small sample size, this appears to be a strong line with some chemistry that could prove useful as the season goes on. Their impact, of course, goes beyond just scoring.

With a combined 32 shots on goal, this line accounts for about 31 percent of the Sceptres' shots. (Again, taking it all with a grain of salt as it's a small sample size.) That is both impressive and expected, given the fact that these three have well proven their offensive abilities. But did you also know that Maltais leads the team with eight hits, and that the three combined have five blocks? Truly, this is a powerhouse line playing a well-rounded game together, and a line of whom much will be expected as the PWHL season progresses.

One has to wonder if head coach Troy Ryan and general manager Gina Kingsbury, both of the Sceptres and of Hockey Canada, could see the line's success at the PWHL level and give it a shot on the international stage, with the upcoming Rivalry Series games and eventually, the Olympics. Watts spent the first two games of the Rivalry Series on the top line with Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey, while Maltais and Spooner were centered by Sarah Fillier.

If it were up to me, I wouldn't be quick to break them apart, that's for sure.