Charge moving on from 4OT loss to Victoire as PWHL playoff hockey makes Ottawa debut
With a quadruple-overtime loss in Montreal behind them, the Ottawa Charge are focused on responding Tuesday night when they host a Professional Women's Hockey League playoff game for the first time.
The Charge returned home with their best-of-five semi-final series against Montreal tied 1-1 after a gruelling Game 2 that lasted over 140 minutes – the longest game in PWHL history – with the Victoire winning 3-2 on a goal from Catherine Dubois.
Ottawa forced Sunday's game at Place Bell to overtime scoring twice in a span of just over four minutes in the third period.
'I think for us, it was just a matter of, okay, this is playoff hockey,' Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod said Monday, as the teams made most of a day off to recover from the physical and emotional toll of Sunday's marathon match. 'You know, they're a great team, we're a great team, it's going to go back and forth, and we recognize that.'
Montreal may have some momentum in the series with the overtime win, but the Charge are feeling confident after winning the series opener on the road and coming close in Game 2.
'I think we talked about it yesterday in the locker room after the game, like there was no reason to hang our heads,' Charge forward Alexa Vasko said. 'I think as a group, we believe we played a great game. And, you know, it was, it was a game for the ages, so I think we're really proud of what we showed that game, and we're just building on that and we're excited to go tomorrow.'
The series now becomes a best-of-three, with Games 3 and 4 in Ottawa.
Montreal finished first in the regular-season standings, but the Charge aren't really buying into the underdog label.
'Well, I don't know how we're the underdog,' MacLeod said. 'Top four teams in this league, everyone's really good. Obviously, they won the regular season, we recognize that, but we had an incredible season ourselves. I think for us, we're not worried about sort of what the outside world's thinking or saying or what they're not saying.'
MacLeod said she and her coaching staff are looking to improve with each game and find areas to capitalize on.
'That's just part of the process in playoffs,' said MacLeod. 'Because you're facing the same opponent it becomes a bit of a chess match, which is a lot of fun, really.'
Charge players have largely looked composed in what is the first playoff series for many on the team.
Rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips, who started the season as a backup, has been a steady presence for Ottawa since Emerance Maschmeyer was sidelined with a leg injury.
Philips was solid making 53 saves Sunday and will need to be equally as good the rest of the way.
'She's just a gamer, you know, she's proven that time in and time out,' MacLeod said. 'You know, here, she's proven it on the world stage, she's an elite level goaltender, and, you know, I think she's earning her credibility pretty quickly here, so she's been just tremendous for us in the back half of the season here, and obviously in the playoffs.'
With the Charge preparing to host their first-ever playoff game, there's an undeniable buzz around the city and players are feeding off of it.
'It's really exciting,' said Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie. 'I'm obviously from Ottawa so for me it's a dream come true to play playoffs in my hometown and I'll have tons of family and friends in the stands and I'm just really excited.'
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