Powered by two late goals, the Ottawa Charge kept their season alive with a 2-1 win over Montréal on Monday night. A fast-paced game that remained scoreless for 47:32 had fans on the egde of their seats in a back-and-forth last few minutes.
Hockey is nothing if not entertaining, right?
Scoreless after 20 minutes. Scoreless after 40 minutes. Nearing the midway point of the third period, it started to feel as though this game was destined for overtime. (Of course, the first two games of the series went to OT – so there’s precedent.)
When Montréal’s Hayley Scamurra scored at 7:32 of the third, the Charge didn’t give up; they kept pushing. Nearly seven minutes later, Peyton Hemp scored her first PWHL playoff goal and lit up the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre.
All of a sudden, it really felt like this game was destined for overtime – until it wasn’t. We’ve seen plenty of overtime in this series, but we’ve also seen late goals. See: Nicole Gosling’s tying goal with three seconds left in game one. It isn’t over until the final buzzer. It certainly wasn’t over, then, when Rebecca Leslie scored with 56 seconds left in regulation.
Leslie’s fourth goal of the playoffs couldn’t have come at a better time. The Charge held on for the win, avoiding a sweep and keeping their Walter Cup hopes alive.
A few key points from Monday’s big win:
Just Score
Not every goal has to be a pretty one. We’ve seen time & time again how difficult it is to beat Ann-Renée Desbiens straight on. Get the puck deep, keep your feet moving and go to the net. Be ready to capitalize on those rebounds, those short shots.
Home Cooking
Home ice has been quite friendly to the Ottawa Charge in this postseason. Having played three games at Canadian Tire Centre so far, the Charge have won them all.
The Charge won nine of 15 home games during the regular season. All of those wins were played at TD Place, before the shift to a larger venue for playoffs. Nice to see that the change in venue has fared well for the Charge – who lost 3-0 to the Victoire in their lone regular season game at Canadian Tire Centre.
It helps, of course, when you have a great crowd behind you. The Charge set a new PWHL playoff attendance recored in round one (13,112), then broke that record Monday night. With 16,894 fans in the house, the team certainly felt the energy.
Rebecca Leslie
We really don’t talk enough about Rebecca Leslie. What she accomplished in the regular season was quite a feat, more than septupling her points total from the previous season. She went from having one goal in the 2024-25 season to 14 this season and was tied for second in the league in goalscoring. With four game-winning goals, she had the most in the PWHL (tied with Kelly Pannek and Sarah Wozniewicz.)
Luckily for the Ottawa Charge, she’s kept up that pace in the postseason. Leslie has already doubled her point production from last year’s playoffs, with six points in seven games. She’s tied for second among all PWHL skaters for playoff points this season; only Marie-Philip Poulin (7) has more.
Next up: Game Four of the series, set for 7 PM ET on Wednesday, May 20 in Ottawa.