OTTAWA — In many ways, it’s fitting that the only local player on the Ottawa Charge would score the first PWHL Finals goal in the city.
After a tight first period, it was Rebecca Leslie who opened the scoring 11:34 into the second period of Game 1. Leslie, who signed with the Charge as a free agent this season, only scored one goal in the regular season for her hometown team, but now has back-to-back opening goals in the postseason.
Advertisement
“The crowd finds it fun when the hometown girl scores,” said Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod. “You’re just thrilled when she’s rewarded and she’s worked hard, she just goes about her business so professionally.
“I think this community is incredibly proud of her. And they should be she’s a heck of a person No. 1 and a phenomenal player.”
In the end, after Minnesota scored in the third period to force overtime, it was Emily Clark who scored the winner in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Minnesota Frost. Gwyneth Philips made 25 saves on 26 shots to seal her third straight win of the playoffs.
“Tonight was a hard fought game,” Clark said. “To start the series off with a win, especially at home in front of our fans is really special.”
Advertisement
For Ottawa, the series opener was yet another one-goal game. The Charge have now won 13 one-goal games, the most in the PWHL. For the Frost, it was a major change from the high-scoring semifinals against Toronto, where Minnesota scored 18 goals in four games.
The Charge now have a 1-0 series lead.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
The scoreless opening frame
There were no goals in the first period, and there wasn’t much room in the middle of the ice for either team to generate much offense. Minnesota got the first shot of the game, and didn’t register another until around the five-minute mark of the period. Ottawa didn’t test Nicole Hensley for the first seven minutes of the game.
Advertisement
The Frost made it tough for Ottawa to get out of the offensive zone, and any time Ottawa tried to set up, Minnesota skaters were jumping on pucks, forcing turnovers and taking away the high-danger areas of the ice, getting sticks and bodies into shooting lanes.
Midway through the period, though, the ice started to tilt in the other direction. The Charge killed off a Stephanie Markowski penalty and held the Frost to just one shot on goal on the advantage. On their own power play a few minutes later, Ottawa put four shots on goal – compared to just three in the…