Ottawa Charge embraces challenge of recovering from marathon loss

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After losing Game 2 after four overtime periods, in what turned out to be the longest game in PWHL history, one would understand if the Ottawa Charge felt deflated.

But there was defender Ronja Savolainen, sprinting up and down the halls outside the locker room after logging more than 42 minutes of ice time. She had never played more than a single overtime period in her career up to that point, even after eight seasons in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League. 

But it wasn’t like she wasn’t prepared for it, anyway.

“People were looking at me like I was stupid,” Savolainen said on Monday afternoon. “That’s what you’ve been doing the whole summer. You work out to feel fresh the whole season. I could have played more periods. I feel great today.”

While perhaps nobody was more charged up than Savolainen post-game, the attitude for all her teammates was the same. Despite pouring all their effort into a five-and-a-half-hour epic that didn’t go their way, they were laughing it off while eating pizza and downing Gatorade. By every measure, their spirits were intact.

“In a lot of circumstances, it would be highly deflating,” said head coach Carla MacLeod. “But our group … is in such a great spot. It’s gonna go back and forth. For our group, it really wasn’t deflating. We really thought we played well, and we just got to keep pushing.”

The sheer absurdity of playing in the league’s longest game became part of the experience, exacerbated by the appearance of mustard packets and a pickle jar that the team snuck from one of Place Bell’s concession stands to keep players fresh. 

“That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Savolainen said, who was confused by the stream of condiments coming into the locker room. “I thought they were gonna bring the hot dogs or something in there when I saw the mustard, and they were like: ‘No, you need to eat that, it’s gonna help for a cramp.’ ”

Forward Alexa Vasko joked that the pickles could’ve been lighter on the garlic, “but that’s what gum is for.”

Condiments aside, the mood is high for Ottawa. Coming home to TD Place after splitting the first two games of their series against the Montreal Victoire, the Charge has done just about all it can to feel good about its chances of upsetting the PWHL’s top-seeded team. 

Not only did the Charge steal a win on the road in a series many believed would be a sweep, but it also controlled long stretches of play. That included firing a PWHL-record 65 shots on Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, forcing her to be on high alert all afternoon.

Vasko said the sentiment in the locker room after the game was that there was no reason for the players to hang their heads. 

“We believe we played a great game,” Vasko said. “It was a game for the ages, so I think we’re really proud of what we showed, and we’re just building on that.”

But before moving onto Game 3, the team was still in recovery mode on Monday. Only players who didn’t suit up for Game 2 practiced, while the rest took part in recovery sessions throughout the afternoon. After a deep sleep the night prior, Vasko admitted she still thought it was the morning.

“I’m calling it a spa day,” said head coach Carla MacLeod. “It’s just all about recovery today.”

Even if the toll of playing the equivalent of more than two whole games on Sunday is still showing, MacLeod said Montreal’s players are “in the same boat.”

“It’s not like we’re bringing in a fresh opponent that hasn’t lived the same thing we have,” she said. “So at the end of the day, everything’s sort of equal still.”

Savolainen, who logged the fourth-most minutes among Charge players in Game 2, was a bit more bullish about her team’s edge. She was adamant they have more juice in the tank than their opponents, especially with the crowd at TD Place now behind them for the next two games.

“I think we’re in better shape (than Montreal). I’m so cocky sometimes,” she said, laughing. 

Priority No. 1 for Savolainen and the rest of Ottawa’s defenders will be continuing to slow down Montreal’s top line of Laura Stacey, Marie-Philip Poulin and Jennifer Gardiner, who have combined for a modest four points through two games, despite firing plenty of shots on Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips.

“You just have to be a pain in the ass there, be close to them, bump them, whatever,” Savolainen said. “Just make sure they feel that it’s going to be hard to play against our team so they have a lot of bruises after the game.”

One thing that cannot be questioned through two games is the indomitable spirit of this team. Nobody has embodied it better than MacLeod, who has steered the ship through plenty of disappointments in the team’s inaugural season and even this year. 

“All these women love playing,” MacLeod said. “If you were to say: ‘Hey, you’re going to be tired potentially, but you’re going into a playoff game,’ they’re going to say, ‘We’re not tired, coach, we’re going to go play that game.’ ”