Tuesday night, the Ottawa Charge faced off against the Minnesota Frost in the PWHL finals game 1, a game that the Charge would ultimately win 2-1 in overtime by way of a game winner from team assistant captain Emily Clark.
The game started at 7pm in Ottawa to a crowd of over 6,000 fans who were all incredibly loud in anticipation for the game. In the first period, shots were 9-4 for the Charge, though neither team was able to get on the board by the period’s end. In this period, Ottawa maintained relative dominance, primarily defensively where they minimized the pressure that team goaltender Gwyneth Philips faced.
Nearly 8 minutes into the first period, Charge rookie Stephanie Markowski took a bad slashing penalty, though the team was able to fend off the Frost’s powerplay with relative ease. Later in the period, Frost star Michela Cava was called for hooking, though the Frost would ultimately kill this penalty as well.
The second period told a different story from the first, with the Frost beginning to gain momentum on the Charge. By the period’s end, Minnesota had outshot Ottawa 11-6. Despite this fact, the only goal of the period was scored by Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie. Just 11 seconds after Charge winger Tereza Vanišová got out of the penalty box for an illegal hit, she was able to find Leslie, who slotted the puck top-shelf over Frost goalie Nicole Hensley to make the game 1-0.
Interestingly, this is Leslie’s second straight game scoring the first goal for Ottawa: she also scored the first goal in game 4 vs Montreal, which means that she now has more playoff goals than she did in the entire regular season, where she scored just one goal.
At the 18-minute mark of the second period, Dominique Petrie of the Frost took a penalty for hooking, which meant that her team would need to take the rest of the period to fend off the penalty. Despite some great opportunities for the Charge in the last few seconds of the period, and largely due to some great saves by goalie Nicole Hensley, the team was able to kill this penalty as well.
At the 5-minute mark of the game’s final regulation period, off a bad misplay of the puck by Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips, Klára Hymlárová scored on a semi-open net over Philips, who was struggling to get back at this point. This was a rare mistake for Philips, who’s been nothing short of phenomenal this postseason, boasting the league’s highest playoff save percentage and lowest GAA.
As the third period came, the game was becoming noticeably more chippy, with “scrums” typically breaking out after dead pucks in either zone. This all culminated in a double penalty around the 14-minute mark of the period, when Frost forward Kelly Pannek and Ottawa forward Rebecca Leslie got called for holding and cross checking, respectively. Leslie’s penalty was reviewed to see if it fit the criteria for a harsher call, but she ultimately only got a 2-minute minor.
The 4-on-4 play came and went though, and as the clock ticked down, it became apparent that the PWHL finals game 1 would go to overtime. Despite Minnesota outshooting Ottawa 21-9 in the final two periods of regulation, both teams had one goal each as the clock hit zero.
Not even three minutes into overtime, Charge star Emily Clark received the puck at mid-ice with space. Clark, who must be one of the league’s fastest players, caught momentum and zoomed past Minnesota’s blue line before the Frost could set up their defense. From what was likely 25-40 feet away, somewhere around the faceoff circle to Nicole Hensley’s right, Emily Clark sniped in a shot, winning the game for the Charge, and putting them up 1-0 in the series.
PWHL Finals Game 1: Three Stars
In the postgame interview, Emily Clark was discussing how great it felt to be able to score a goal like that to the roar of Ottawa’s passionate hockey fans. After saying this, Clark was promptly let go by the interviewer for the sake of being allowed to accept the honour of the game’s first star.
The Second Star of the game was Gwyneth Philips, who continues to greatly shine in this series. Philips saved 25 of the 26 shots she faced, and likely would have netted another shutout tonight if it weren’t for one misplay of the puck. As of right now, she’s probably the odds-on favourite for Walter Cup Playoffs MVP. In these playoffs, she averages just 1.11 GAA and a ridiculous save percentage of 0.957.
The Third Star of game 1 of the Walter Cup Finals was Rebecca Leslie for the crucial goal she scored in the second period. Without that goal, the game would not have had the opportunity to go to overtime. Leslie continues to prove herself a playoff riser.
Game 2 of the Walter Cup Finals takes place on Thursday, May 22 at 7pm E.T.
