Ottawa Charge on the brink of elimination in PWHL playoffs after another marathon OT loss

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Another long overtime loss has put the Ottawa Charge on the ropes.

Katy Knoll scored at 9:56 of the third extra session to give the Minnesota Frost a 2-1 victory over the Charge in front of 8,098 fans at Xcel Energy Center Saturday night.

The victory gives the defending champs a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five PWHL Walter Cup finals.

The teams meet again on Monday (5 p.m.) in St. Paul, Minn. The Charge needs to win to extend the series to a fifth and deciding game at TD Place on Wednesday.

It was the second marathon loss in these playoffs for the Charge, which dropped a fourth overtime game to the Montreal Victoire in the opening round.

It was also the third game of the final that extended beyond regulation time, and the third game that ended in the same score.

Knoll capitalized on an empty side after a point shot from Klara Hymlarova hit bodies in front.

The result also spoiled a spectacular performance by Ottawa goalie Gywneth Philips — who made 23 saves and interrupted a couple of other scoring chances that weren’t registered as shots — and was even better as the game went on.

Minnesota outshot the Charge, 47-36.

Ashton Bell led all Ottawa players with an even 41 minutes of ice time while Jocelyn Larocque, her shutdown partner on the Charge blue line, was close behind at 40:53 of ice time.

Ottawa’s power play came up empty with four chances as Minnesota went 0-for-3 with the advantage.

Both teams had a power play in overtime.

Emily Clark and Lee Stecklein exchanged first and second-period goals, respectively.

Frost defender Sophie Jaques alone had one more shot on goal in the opening 20 minutes than the Charge, which became the first team to test a goalie as few as just two times during a period this playoff season.

Rooney’s save percentage took a hit as one of those shots gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.

It came from the stick of Clark, who silenced the Minnesota crowd with a sharp-angle attempt at the 11:38 mark.

It was the third goal and fifth point in seven playoff games for the veteran forward, who had 14 points in 16 games from Feb. 1 on to finish the season.

“It was great to get on the board first,” Clark said in a TV interview between periods while noting the “passionate” fans at Xcel. “We have to find a way to make our own energy now that we’re not at TD (Place).”

Ottawa’s defence was impenetrable in that opening stanza, as Philips made 10 saves while the Charge was credited with nine blocked shots.

Stecklein tied the score with a point shot through a crowd at 2:38 of the second period.

It was her league-leading fourth of the playoffs.

Minnesota was up 20-9 on the shots clock heading into the third period.

The Charge dressed seven defenders for the game, and it turned out to be a good decision.

As assistant captain Jincy Roese was back in the lineup for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in the regular season finale, but it may have been a premature return as she only saw 4:43 of ice time.

To make room on the roster, Ottawa placed Sam Isbell on the reserve player list.