Red-hot Ottawa Charge peaking at the right time in PWHL playoff series with Montreal Victoire

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After a season of ups and downs that ended on a high, the Ottawa Charge could have adopted an eight-year-old hit by country superstar Luke Combs as its pre-game pump-up song.

The Charge could have chosen Be Careful What You Wish For as its anthem when the PWHL’s regular-season champion Montreal Victoire picked third-place Ottawa over the fourth-place Minnesota Frost as its playoff opponent.

Travel logistics aside, it might have been the wrong decision.

The Charge was the hottest team in the league even before its Game 1, a 3-2 road victory over the Victoire on Thursday night.

With the win, Ottawa has claimed five of its past six games while allowing just nine goals.

After its 3-2 loss to the Toronto Sceptres in Game 1 of the league’s other series, the Frost is 3-3 in its past half dozen games and 3-5 with 19 goals surrendered since Mar. 11.

But while the Charge is peaking at the right time, coach Carla MacLeod continues to maintain that any perceived slight shown by Montreal is a “media storyline” and nothing else.

“They were just doing what they had to do,” MacLeod told reporters after Thursday’s win, referring to the unique PWHL playoff format that has the first-place team choosing between the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds for its opening round date. “We don’t need external motivation when you have the top four teams playing right now.

“For us, it’s not really about that at all. Montreal earned that opportunity to select their opponent. They selected us. That was their job and now it’s our job just to keep pushing and playing.”

The Victoire, meanwhile, has its own issues heading into Game 2 on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.) at Place Bell.

Montreal clinched top spot with a five-point cushion by winning its last two regular-season games, but also has just three victories in its past nine games and is 0-4 all-time in the playoffs.

After stealing home-ice advantage in Game 1, Charge captain Brianne Jenner said her team still has plenty of “respect’ for the Victoire.

“In this league, the team that shows up on the given night wins the hockey game,” Jenner said. “We’re pretty confident in our game and know that when we bring a solid 60 minutes, we have a great chance of beating any club.”

The Charge has found its desired identity, which Jenner says is “playing on our toes and being aggressive.”

“I think we learned a lot from the first half of the season,” Jenner said. “And have kind of put that into practice, in our mindset and how we can stay focused in games and not let the ups and downs get to us.”

That showed on Thursday, when Ottawa twice surrendered leads before nailing down the win after Shiann Darkangelo scored the deciding goal with just over 10 minutes to play in the third.

Rookie goalie Gwyneth Philips, solid throughout in a 31-save playoff debut, stood out as Montreal made a late-game push.

Things I think I think …

• The Charge won the even-strength game 2-0, with both Montreal goals coming on its two power-play opportunities. That speaks volumes to the play of Emily Clark, Gabbie Hughes and Mannon McMahon in shutting down the league’s best line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey and Jennifer Gardiner. In extending its winning streak against Montreal to three games, Ottawa has put a blanket on Victoire’s big guns and signs of frustration appear to be setting in.
• Ottawa was 1-for-3 on the power play, but the goal had added significance as it was the first of the game and it was scored by Jenner. The Charge is now 14-1 all-time when its captain finds the back of the net.
• Along with continuing her torrid, end-of-season streak that saw her record three goals and four assists in Ottawa’s last five games, Darkangelo not only scored the winner but was dominant in the faceoff circles, winning 16 of 20 draws.
• With veteran blueliner Jincy Roese missing Game 1 because of an “upper body” injury that has her status listed as day-to-day, Charge defenders Ronja Savolainen, Zoe Boyd, Jocelyne Larocque, Ashton Bell, Stephanie Markowski and Aneta Tejralova did admirable work against a Montreal attack that produced the second most goals in the league during the season. The team as a whole still has to cut back on defensive zone giveaways.
• Bell, who scored Ottawa’s second goal, must love the Victoire. All three of her regular-season goals were scored against Montreal, too.
• The Charge’s lone Ottawa-born player, Rebecca Leslie, was given a stick for her 29th birthday. It came in the form of a cross-check by the Victoire’s Mariah Keopple. Leslie obviously didn’t think much of the gift, as she ripped it from Keopple’s hands and threw it away while the Montreal defender skated to the box.