Ottawa Charge: How OT heartbreak in the PWHL final could turn into a good thing

Article content

The worst thing about the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoffs is the length.

The growing number of followers this fine creation of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter is attracting would much prefer a best-of-seven series to these best-of-fives.

More is always better when it’s something good, right?

Members of the Walter Cup-finalist Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost might agree, but for a different reason than entertainment value.

One of the teams is going to be on the brink of elimination after Game 3 on Saturday (5 p.m. ET) at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

It almost seems unfair, doesn’t it?

Speaking of which … How quickly things change.

The Charge was 15 clicks of the clock from taking firm control of the championship series when — faster than you can say Britta Curl-Salemme and Google search why so many loving souls at TD Place left the edge of their seats to stand and shower big No. 77 with such hate — the Frost reversed the tide.

Yes, it appears the defending PWHL champs were packing the momentum when the teams boarded a shared charter flight on Friday, headed to the Twin Cities for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.

But is that really the case?

Ottawa was the second-best team on the ice in its 1-0 Game 1 victory, but the Charge was dominant in a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 2.

Maybe it was the smell of blood that had the Charge looking like hungry sharks as they circled the Frost for more than 57 minutes on Thursday until finally moving in for a successful strike with an extra-rare goal by defender Jocelyn Larocque.

That lead likely would have held, too, had Tereza Venisova’s third penalty of the night with 37 seconds left not overextended Ottawa’s short-handed units after they had completely smothered Minnesota’s potent power play the rest of the night.

Despite Curl-Salemme’s crowd-silencing heroics, the Charge was thrilled with its overall play.

And why not.

Ottawa outshot the Frost 38-24, including 24-9 in the first two periods and 8-5 in the extra session.

“This was a much better game for us than our first game,” Charge captain Brianne Jenner said afterwards. “We can take a lot of confidence from the way we played. We got back to our style.”

Larocque mentioned there were a “lot of good things” the Charge could take from Game 2’s disappointing outcome.

“Similar to our (four-) OT loss in Montreal, there were a lot of positives,” she said, referring to the opening-round Mustard Marathon loss to the Victoire, which was also Game 2 in the first round. “And look at how we responded in the next game. I do not see it being different here.”

It was more than just the next game.

Rather than looking drained both physically and mentally after allowing a 1-0 series lead to evaporate in a 5 1/2-hour slugfest against an opponent that had finished nine points higher in the regular-season standings, the Charge bounced back with vigor.

Ottawa rattled off three successive wins while putting the heartbreak delivered by Montreal’s Catherine Dubois in the rear-view mirror, giving up just four goals in the equivalent of 13 periods since.

Coincidence?

“I don’t know. I think we’ve been playing some pretty good hockey for a good chunk of time now, even before that overtime loss,” Charge centre Gabbie Hughes said via Zoom call after the team arrived in Minnesota on Friday. “We just kind of just put that one on the shelf as a loss. I think we played really well in that game. We stuck it out, and we really fought until the end. So I think we’re just taking that with us in every game, no matter what. We know how bad we want it.”

Charge head coach Carla MacLeod harkened back to Jenner’s goal with 42 seconds left in the third that turned Game 2 against the Victoire into a doubleheader and then some, calling it a “resiliency component” the Charge had built on.

“I think it was just a confidence moment for us in the playoffs, recognizing that, when we played to our strengths and stayed true to what we know is working for us, great things can happen,” MacLeod said. “In this world, again, you don’t know who’s going to win or lose, but you can only control how you play. And we liked that game. I think it infused some confidence in our group that we could do something fun in these playoffs.”

Notwithstanding Curl-Salemme, who won’t have any booing to hush in the next two games, the Charge is doing some great things defensively in front of netminder Gwyneth Philips. Minnesota’s big line of Kendall Coyne Schofield, Michela Cava and Taylor Heise has been held off the scoresheet. Heise, the league’s leading scorer after Round 1 with seven points in four games, has been held to two shots, including none in almost four periods of Game 2

Offensively, the Charge is being led by Emily Clark, who had a game-high six shots on Thursday, and Rebecca Leslie, who has turned into a buzzsaw after what had been a quiet regular season.

But more is needed from the attack overall, and therein could lie the problem.

After getting her crease back, Minnesota netminder Maddie Rooney made 37 saves in Game 2.

She could be just picking up some steam.

“She was definitely locked in, she was outstanding,” said Frost coach Ken Klee, who had started Nicole Hensley in Game 1. “She’s been great for us all year. It wasn’t a surprise for us. We put Maddie in the net, and that’s what we expect to see. We know she can do it. Same with Nicole, but it was Maddie’s turn to go, and she was excellent.”

Klee will likely go with Rooney in Game 3, but who knows? He started his backup in Game 1, if regular-season stats were any indication.

Either way, it will be a story to watch in a series that appears destined to go the best-of-five distance.

Even at that, it won’t be long enough.