After the Ottawa Charge lost the first game of their semifinal series against the Boston Fleet, head coach Carla MacLeod knew what her team had to do. As she said, you don’t get to the playoffs and then change your game plan. Little tweaks are all it would take, she added.
Turns out, she knows what she’s talking about.
The Charge beat the Fleet 3-1 Saturday night to tie the series. The team has also guaranteed at least two home games in Ottawa now.
What went right for Ottawa this time around?
Faceoffs
The Ottawa Charge were better in the faceoff circle on Saturday. They won 30 of 59 draws, good for 50.8 percent. Brianne Jenner led the team with 13 wins on 25 draws. Kateřina Mrázová won four of seven faceoffs taken, and Gabbie Hughes went 50%.
Comparatively, the Charge won 22 of 60 faceoffs in Thursday’s loss, or 36.7 percent. While faceoffs aren’t the be-all, end-all determination of success, they certainly help put the team in a better position.
Quality of Shots
One thing I mentioned in Thursday’s loss was that the Ottawa Charge needed to get better quality shots on goal. Saturday, many more of their shots were closer in on net – exactly what you want to see. The volume of shots only marginally increased (21 vs. 18), but the proximity matters, too.
Depth in Scoring
Sometimes, offense comes from your top lines. Other times, it comes from across the roster.
Saturday night was the latter for the Ottawa Charge, expanding on the trend from game one. Fanuza Kadirova, a third-line winger who had 10 goals in the regular season, scored the game-winning goal. Ronja Savolainen, part of the team’s top defensive pairing, opened the scoring. Gabbie Hughes, who centers the second line, potted the empty-netter.
Often in playoffs, the teams that go the farthest are the deepest. The entire roster needs to be firing on all cylinders, and we saw the Charge settle into playoff mode in their second game. Jocelyne Larocque had two assists and now leads the team in postseason scoring. If you can get scoring from everywhere in the lineup, you’re doing something right.
And Of Course, Gwyneth Philips
As is often the case, Gwyneth Philips was arguably Ottawa’s best player Saturday night. She made several strong saves early on as the Fleet brought the pressure. As Boston continued to outshot Ottawa, Philips was there, time and time again. She made 30 saves in Saturday’s win.
Philips now has a 5-1-4 record in playoffs all-time.
Game Three of the best-of-five series is set for Friday, May 8 at Canadian Tire Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM ET.