TORONTO (AP) — Blayre Turnbull and Jess Kondas scored their first goals of the season to lift the Toronto Sceptres to a 4-2 win over the Boston Fleet on Friday night.
Rookie goalie Raygan Kirk stopped 26 shots for her first Professional Women’s Hockey League victory as the Sceptres snapped a four-game losing streak.
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Toronto Sceptres' Blayre Turnbull, center, celebrates after a goal with teammates during first-period PWHL hockey game action against the Boston Fleet in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres goaltender Raygan Kirk (1) makes a save against Boston Fleet's Hannah Brandt (20) during first-period PWHL hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Jessica Kondas (2), celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Boston Fleet during second period PWHL hockey action in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Boston Fleet's Loren Gabel (36) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Toronto Sceptres during second period PWHL hockey in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Jessica Kondas (2) races for the puck with Boston Fleet's Theresa Schafzahl (37) during the first period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Blayre Turnbull (40) protects the puck from Boston Fleet's Jessica DiGirolamo (22) during the second period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Emma Woods restored Toronto’s two-goal cushion off the rush with 5:40 remaining, and Kali Flanagan scored an empty-netter.
Loren Gabel replied late in the second period for the Fleet, who had won two in a row. Hannah Bilka scored with 65 seconds remaining.
Toronto outshot Boston 30-28. Aerin Frankel stopped 26 shots for Boston.
Toronto built a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal from Turnbull in the first period and Kondras in the second.
Kondas made her PWHL debut. The Sceptres defender signed a 10-day contract from Toronto’s reserve player list after Rylind MacKinnon’s one-game suspension for an illegal check to the head.
Gabel snuck a shot over the right pad of Kirk on the power play to give Boston life at 2-1, 3:24 before the second intermission.
Sceptres: Toronto was without star Natalie Spooner for the sixth straight game as she continues to recover from knee surgery last spring.
Fleet: Boston’s two goals were on the power play to give them a league-leading 4 for 10 in five games.
With the outcome still in doubt, Kirk made an excellent stop in close on Theresa Schafzahl with 11:58 remaining in the third period to keep Toronto in front 2-1.
Toronto defender Renata Fast has an assist in her first six games this season.
Boston: Visits the Montreal Victoire on Tuesday night.
Toronto: Hosts the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday night.
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Toronto Sceptres' Blayre Turnbull, center, celebrates after a goal with teammates during first-period PWHL hockey game action against the Boston Fleet in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres goaltender Raygan Kirk (1) makes a save against Boston Fleet's Hannah Brandt (20) during first-period PWHL hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Jessica Kondas (2), celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Boston Fleet during second period PWHL hockey action in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Boston Fleet's Loren Gabel (36) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Toronto Sceptres during second period PWHL hockey in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Jessica Kondas (2) races for the puck with Boston Fleet's Theresa Schafzahl (37) during the first period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Blayre Turnbull (40) protects the puck from Boston Fleet's Jessica DiGirolamo (22) during the second period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.
Putin's apology came amid mounting allegations that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
An official Kremlin statement issued on Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.
The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”
The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.
According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference," although he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses.
Aliyev noted that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries “due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.”
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau.
Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.
People stand at a street memorial outside the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
People attend a funeral of Mahammadali Eganov, 13 who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People attend the funeral of Mahammadali Eganov, 13 who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People attend a funeral of Mahammadali Eganov who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People attend a funeral of Mahammadali Eganov who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People attend a funeral of Mahammadali Eganov who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People attend a funeral of Mahammadali Eganov who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
The tomb of Mahammadali Eganov, 13 who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
People carry the body of Mahammadali Eganov, 13 who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, at his funeral, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
In this photo released by Kazakhstan's Presidential Press Office, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev speaks during a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in connection with the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau. (Kazakhstan's Presidential Press Office via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Sergei Ilyin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, a part of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
