Ottawa Charge melt the Minnesota Frost in OVERTIME, Take Game One Of Walter Cup Finals
Written by: Tyler Beauchesne
Image from Tony Caldwell | @tonysunphoto
For the first time in franchise history, the Ottawa Charge have reached the PWHL finals, where they will face off against the Minnesota Frost at TD Place. The arena was electric once again as Charge fans filled the arena. They were loud enough to break the sound barrier as they cheered their team on to a beautiful effort.
The first period was a tight matchup between both teams. It was a pretty even bout as both teams were playing well against each other, as the Frost were applying a lot of offensive pressure that was met with Ottawa’s amazing defense and goaltending. After 10 minutes, Ottawa fought back with some offensive pressure of their own, outshooting the Frost eight to one. Both teams took penalties that were killed off well, and it seemed that the game was at a standstill.
The second period started with a dirty knee-to-knee hit as Britta Curl-Salemme collided with Kateřina Mrázová. If the league cared about player safety, they would give Curl a 10-game suspension. She is a repeat offender in this league, and honestly, we have moved past the need for a “Britta Curl”.
Gwyneth Philips was standing on her head once again, making huge saves against the frost to keep the Charge in the game.
Rebecca Leslie put home an insane snipe to open the scoring against the Frost. The goal was assisted by Tereza Vanišová (my favourite) and Jocelyne Larocque. It was such a highlight reel goal and Leslie’s second on this playoff run, as she only had one throughout the regular season.
Unfortunately, Klára Hymlárová scored on Philips with a devastating net-front shot early in the third period. It was Philips’ misplay that led to that moment that tied the game up. The Frost were coming back into this game with a strong offensive effort. The Charge were slipping but kept it competitive enough to keep themselves in the game, and the score was tied. An insane call led to what was supposed to be a Charge powerplay into a 4-on-4 by the end of the third period. The refereeing in this game was questionable to say the least, but both teams were able to kill the 4-on-4 off well. The penalty kill for both teams had been playing well this entire game. As the clock reached zero, it was still 1-1, so we were officially heading into overtime in this one.
Overtime started up as both teams had a lot of fight left in them. However, three minutes in, it was Emily Clark who became the overtime hero for the Ottawa Charge. She got one in behind Hensley to make it 2-1, winning the first game of the series for the Charge. The clear MVP of this game was her with the game winner, as she prevented another four rounds of overtime once again.
This first win was important in terms of momentum for the Charge. The tight victory was a precedent for the intense series that is to come from these two, as they were tied in the season series against each other.
As Ottawa gets more and more hot on their run, the belief is strong that they can finish off this series as the victors, bringing glory to this city! I am so excited for the next game, go Charge!
