Charge head into the playoffs on a high after OT win over Sceptres

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There would be no repeat of the disappointment and tears a year ago when the Ottawa Charge came to Toronto on the final day of the regular season.

Given a do-over Saturday before a sellout crowd at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, the Charge started slow, gained some momentum, survived a frantic push from the hometown Sceptres in the latter stages of the third and then celebrated as Katerina Mrazova got one behind Kristen Campbell 2:52 into the extra frame to secure Ottawa’s first time in the PWHL playoffs.

The first-round playoff opponent for the Charge will be determined Sunday evening when the Montreal Victoire, by virtue of its first-place finish, choose between the third-place Charge and the fourth-place Minnesota Frost in one of those uniquely PWHL rules. Toronto will host the team Montreal does not pick.

The Charge, Frost and Boston Fleet all finished the regular season with 44 points but the tiebreakers favoured the Charge and Frost who will move on.

The Frost booked its own ticket an hour after the Charge did knocking off the Fleet on their home ice and sending Boston to an unexpected early off-season. The Frost jumped on last year’s finalists early building up a 5-0 lead after two periods and then played the majority of the third against six attackers and no goalie as Boston tried for the miracle comeback with the extra forward before eventually falling 8-1 to the suddenly red-hot Frost

Ottawa head coach Carla McLeod was delighted with her team’s play in the game Saturday, particularly with the resilience they showed in pushing back against a Toronto side that got on the scoreboard first and were clearly pushing for the regulation kill through the final half of the third period.

Charge goalkeeper Gwyneth Philips was stellar, if not overly busy, in the Ottawa net making several big saves despite facing just 15 shots the entire game. She was at her best late in the third as the Sceptres were buzzing her net but unable to put one behind her.

For MacLeod Saturday’s result was proof of the maturation she has seen all season from her team as they dug in to get the win they needed to earn that playoff berth.

“Obviously we knew the significance of the game and the moment for our group,” MacLeod said. “It’s pretty thrilling to see where we are at and really how we went about it today. Really proud of the collective effort. Didn’t stop competing and didn’t let any momentum swing us one way or the other. Just truly stayed true to who we are. It was impressive.”

Despite the discrepancy in shots with Toronto generating just 14 to Ottawa’s 25, the Charge were not handed this win. They earned it denying Toronto the chance to finish first overall in the process.

“This is a group that throughout the season just built confidence and really started to embrace who they are as a group and who we are as a team,” MacLeod said.

The Charge are in the playoffs because of their never-quit approach best exemplified by a shorthanded game winner over Montreal in the dying seconds two games ago. That win combined with this overtime victory were the difference between looking forward to a playoff date later this week and those dreaded locker room clean out interviews where everything that went wrong gets dissected ad infinitum.

Jocelyne Larocque has now been on two teams that earned their way into the playoffs in two different fashions. Last season as a member of PWHL Toronto, Larocque experienced an early clinching and now with Ottawa she has seen what it’s like to clinch on the final day.

The veteran National team member believes the latter sets a team up for playoff success better.

“I think this year with Ottawa, we are more playoff ready,” Larocque said comparing the two scenarios. “Because I think last year (in Toronto) when you know you made playoffs in – I don’t know, was it February? – so I think this just prepares the group better and I feel really confident that this group is ready for playoffs because we have made this very hard playoff push. It just gets you in the right mindset, your habits and your details, so I think it’s a blessing to have to fight for a spot, honestly.”

As one of the few who have experienced the PWHL playoffs on the Ottawa roster, Larocque will be leaned on for some words of wisdom heading in and she’s fully prepared to share this message.

“I think the biggest thing is managing the highs and lows,” Larocque said. “I think last year (with Toronto) we didn’t manage the lows well so I think that is something that whichever team can manage those high and lows the best will probably come out with the Walter Cup. Just focus shift by shift and game by game.”

While the Charge and the rest of the PWHL playoff participants await Montreal’s decision of opponent which will determine the first round matchups, MacLeod said there’s no point in hoping for one opponent over another.

“Kudos to the league and the players within it that have made it so highly competitive so it doesn’t matter who you play in the playoffs,” McLeod said. “It doesn’t matter what rank you have going into the playoffs. Every team is highly respectful of one another and recognize anyone can have a great day or an off day on any given day. So, for us we will just keep our focus on us and on what has been working for us particularly in the second half and go out there and give it everything we’ve got.”

While the matchups have yet to be determined the PWHL playoffs will begin Wednesday night in Toronto followed by a Game 1 in the other series on Thursday in Montreal.

mganter@postmedia.com