The Seattle Torrent arrived in Montréal with their season hanging by a thread. A back-to-back set of games against the Victoire and Ottawa offered their last chance to stay in the playoff race — a narrow path, as they needed to come out of these two games with more points than the Charge to keep their season alive.
They didn’t get the start they needed.
On Tuesday, Seattle fell 4-1 to the Montréal Victoire, managing just a single goal from Theresa Schafzahl. The loss didn’t eliminate the Torrent from playoff contention outright, but it turned a slightly more manageable climb up the standings into a decisive moment: now everything comes down to Ottawa.
No Room Left for Mistakes
The Torrent currently sit in last place in the standings, needing to gain ground directly on Ottawa, sitting in fifth. A regulation win would deliver three points and prevent the Charge from adding any, while an overtime or shootout win only gives Seattle two points and still allows Ottawa to collect one point in the same game.
After dropping the game in Montréal, Seattle cannot afford to settle for anything that allows Ottawa to keep pace or extend the gap. The only result that produces a meaningful swing in the standings under these conditions is a regulation win, because it guarantees both the maximum return for Seattle and the complete denial of points to Ottawa in this matchup.
What We’ve Seen Before
Seattle’s December 17 4-1 win over the Charge stands as one of their most complete efforts of the season. Julia Gosling, Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, and Alex Carpenter all recorded a multiple points, including two power play goals from Gosling and Carpenter. The team’s core not only created but finished scoring chances and forced Ottawa out of its defensive structure.
The rematchups looked different.
Ottawa adjusted by tightening the middle and forcing Seattle toward the boards, and the Torrent didn’t counter effectively. In those losses, Seattle struggled to sustain pressure and leaned heavily on individual efforts rather than connected offense. Jessie Eldridge provided a multi-point performance with power play goals in both of those games, but she no longer factors into this lineup after the trade that brought in Theresa Schafzahl.
That absence reinforces a season-long issue: when Seattle’s top players don’t drive the game, the offense tends to stall.
Ottawa, meanwhile, doesn’t need many openings. They play a structured game that punishes turnovers and broken coverage, especially at home. If Seattle gives them space in transition or fails to clear the crease, Ottawa has shown it can capitalize quickly.
What Has to Change
Seattle’s road struggles haven’t just lingered in the background. Their 0-11 true road game record (0-2-9) shaped the season, and now they sit at the center of its most important game. If that changes in Ottawa, it starts with how they attack.
Too often, Seattle’s offense stays on the perimeter, working along the boards without turning those touches into real pressure. That approach keeps defenders comfortable and limits second chances. Against Ottawa, that won’t be enough. The Torrent need to push pucks into the middle and create traffic that forces rebounds and chaos in front of the net.
From there, the focus shifts to game management. In previous matchups, Seattle has stayed within reach but hasn’t finished. Ottawa has taken advantage of that, finding ways to pull away late. Closing that gap means sharper decisions with the puck, especially in the third period. It means cleaner exits and a more composed approach, whether they’re protecting a lead or chasing the game.
Special teams sit right at the center of that equation. Ottawa has converted 14 of 74 power-play chances this season (18.9%), while Seattle sits at 10 of 69 (14.5%). While this is not a massive gap, the Charge generate and finish at a higher rate, and that extra production has helped separate them in close games.
Seattle’s penalty kill has held up reasonably well at 84.3%, which ranks ahead of Ottawa’s 80.7%. But that advantage only matters if they avoid unnecessary penalties and keep the game at even strength. Seattle can’t afford to trade power-play chances. They need to win the special teams battle outright, or at the very least stay even. Ottawa doesn’t need many opportunities to capitalize, especially at home, and Seattle has already shown in previous meetings how quickly a game can swing when special teams get involved.
The Bottom Line
Seattle does not need a perfect game, but they do need the right result, and that result is a regulation win. That is the only outcome that creates enough separation in the standings to keep their playoff hopes alive in a meaningful way.
Anything less ends the Torrent’s inaugural season and allows Ottawa to maintain control of the gap. At this point in the season, control matters more than anything else, and Seattle has to find a way to take it back in Ottawa.
