Can Ottawa Charge force another disappointing Mother's Day weekend for Montreal Victoire?

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The Ottawa Charge has a chance to break some hearts at Place Bell in Laval for the second May 11th in a row.

One year ago to the day, the home crowd sat through the longest game in PWHL history only to see Montreal get pushed to the brink of elimination by Boston in a 2-1 triple-overtime defeat.

Boston, which had also won Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff by a 2-1 overtime final two nights earlier, swept the series with a 3-2 OT victory at Tsongas Center on May 14.

That outcome was an upset after Montreal finished the regular season in second place with 41 points, while Boston finished third with 35.

The Charge will try to help history repeat itself Sunday at 2 p.m. after taking Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff showdown with the Victoire by a 3-2 score in Laval on Thursday.

A victory would put Ottawa in a position to be the second third-place team to oust Montreal — which this season finished in first, eight points ahead of the Charge — when the series moves two hours down Highway 417 to TD Place for Game 3 on Tuesday.

Here are five things to watch for in Game 2.

‘TENDING THE TWINE

With all due respect to 15-goal scorer Tereza Vanisova, the Charge’s most valuable player this season has to be Gwyneth Philips.

When star goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer went down with a lower-body injury in March, the duties were handed to Philips, a 24-year-old from Athens, Ohio, who had three full games of PWHL experience when thrown into the fire.

Philips finished the season with an 8-5-1 record, 2.11 goals against average and .919 save percentage, leading the Charge to a playoff spot by playing the final eight games and allowing more than two goals just twice in that span.

In her playoff debut on Thursday, she was the star of the game with 31 saves, while Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, who doubles as the Canadian national team’s No. 1 goalie, stopped 24 shots.

Philips, a backup for Team USA, has now beaten Desbiens the last four times they have faced each other, including a Rivalry Series contest and a playoff game.

The Victoire will be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Philips on Sunday in an attempt to even the series. For the Charge to prevail, its rookie goalie will once again have to come up large.

FIVE-ON-FIVE PLAY

In losing all four of its playoff games to date, Montreal has scored a grand total of one even-strength goal.

Both Montreal’s goals in Game 1 on Thursday, by Maureen Murphy and Marie-Philip Poulin, came on the team’s only two power plays.

Two Ottawa goals (Ashton Bell, Shiann Darkangelo) were scored at 5-on-5, while Brianne Jenner opened the game with a power-play marker.

The Charge played shorthanded 18 times in winning four of the last five regular-season games, so maintaining the disciplined style shown in the team’s playoff debut figures to be imperative on Sunday.

SHOOTING BLANKS

More than half of Montreal’s 33 shots in Game 1 came from the top line of Poulin (eight), Laura Stacey (six) and Jennifer Gardiner (four), so it’s not like the top guns didn’t get their chances.

Keeping a unit that accounted for 35 of Montreal’s 77 regular-season goals at bay will be a key for Ottawa.

DUE FOR A BREAKTHROUGH

Not only has Vanisova been the Charge’s most dangerous weapon, but, as the only PWHL player to score two hat-tricks in a season, she’s also been pretty consistent with her production since ending an eight-game drought on Jan. 27.

It’s now been five games since she has scored, though, but, with five shots on goal in Game 1, she threatened to bust out of her slump.

Could this be the day?

The Charge doesn’t score a lot — with 71 goals it was tied with the New York Sirens for the lowest total in the league during the regular season — and Vanisova was the only player on the team to hit double digits.

Others need to contribute, but it’s likely Vanisova has to get back on the scoresheet for the Charge to eliminate the Victoire.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

It’s always a good sign for Ottawa when Jenner scores: The team is 14-1 in games that she has counted thus far.

And Darkangelo is on a hot run with 10 points (four goals) in her past nine games, including the winner on Thursday.

But, if you’re looking to make an “anytime goal scorer” wager, Emily Clark (+300), Katerina Mrazova (+480), Gabbie Hughes (+550) are certainly worth consideration.

Longshots to also look at are Danielle Serdachny (+700) and Mannon McMahon (+700), while dropping two bucks on Ottawa’s own Rebecca Leslie (+1500) to win $30 might be worth the gamble.