Charge haunted by inability to score in another overtime backbreaker

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Following Emily Clark’s Game 1 overtime winner, it felt like the Ottawa Charge might be able to ride rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips’ coattails to a Walter Cup against the defending PWHL champions.

Ottawa had earned all four of its playoff wins by a one-goal margin, yet it never felt like the team members were playing on the edge with Philips posting video game numbers in between the pipes.

But after scoring just two goals in the equivalent of almost three hockey games in Game 2 and 3, Ottawa’s inability to score — an issue all season — has resurfaced. It might just prevent them from clearing the championship hurdle as they head into Game 4 with their backs against the wall.

While Philips continues to stand on her head with a 1.17 goals-against average and .953 save percentage, the Charge have mustered just 12 goals over seven games, good for 1.71 goals per game. That’s 0.65 fewer goals than they managed in the regular season, which was already the PWHL’s worst mark.

Clark, who, to her credit, has done the most offensive damage for the Charge this playoffs, attributed the lack of lamp-lighting to top-notch goaltending and deep lineups on both sides.

“We have two great teams. It’s the final. Everyone wants it so bad, and I think that’s a testament to the low scoring,” she said.

While it’s true that the Minnesota Frost have only snuck five goals past Philips in three games, they have more reasons to be confident given the way they controlled the run of play in Game 3, and especially in overtime. In front of their home crowd, the Frost outshot Ottawa 47-36, with many more high-danger chances that forced Philips to sprawl across her crease to keep her team alive.

For much of Game 3, Minnesota’s victory felt inevitable, even as the teams entered a third overtime period. Taylor Heise struck iron late in the third and had an open-net look in overtime, while forward Grace Zumwinkle and defender Sophie Jacques fired a collective 13 shots throughout the night, many of which came from point-blank range.

Although Heise, the first overall pick from the 2023 PWHL Draft, has yet to record a point in the PWHL Finals, Frost head coach Ken Klee said there was never any reason for concern. 

“As long as (Heise is) getting great looks, I don’t worry about it,” he said. “When they’re not getting looks, that’s when, as a coach, I start to be concerned.”

This wasn’t Klee’s first rodeo with lengthy overtime hockey — he was a member of the 1995-96 Washington Capitals, who lost a quadruple overtime thriller to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL’s longest game in 60 years. His team looked prepared for the situation, hemming their opposition into their own end for long stretches and forcing turnovers off fatigued players.

Meanwhile, Ottawa stalled out at many points, failing to gain entry to the middle of the ice for quality chances on the Frost’s Maddie Rooney. While Minnesota’s elite corps of defenders have done an excellent job clearing the front of the net and keeping the opposition to the outside, the Charge were their own worst enemy on the power play.

That unit has gone 1-for-17 in the playoffs and 0-for-8 in three games against Minnesota. Just as in the regular season, where their league-worst 14.9 per cent conversion rate dragged them down, it’s preventing them from gaining any momentum in the postseason.

As she has responded many times throughout the season, head coach Carla MacLeod acknowledged the shortcomings of her special teams.

“You get to this point of the season, you need to be able to score some power-play goals,” she said. “It’s not for a lack of effort or a lack of trying, so we’ll just keep going at it.”

With Philips posting an MVP-worthy performance at the other end of the ice, Ottawa’s failure to provide offensive support is at risk of squandering her work.

“This whole group’s incredibly confident and just trying to keep the puck in the far end and score a few for her,” MacLeod said.