Late Thursday night, in front of the largest crowd yet in the entirety of the PWHL finals at TD Place in Ottawa, the Minnesota Frost defeated the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in overtime to tie the Walter Cup Finals series score at 1-1.
In the first period, no goals were scored by either side, but there was certainly no shortage of opportunities; the Charge recorded 8 shots on goal. And while this figure was only 3 for the Frost, they too had plenty of chances but just failed to put the puck on goal, as noted by the game’s commentary team. Early in this period, Tereza Vanišová of the charge caught a 2-minute minor penalty for holding, but the Frost were unable to make many scoring chances from this.
The second period was more of the same, though it saw both teams increase their offense to make what was a very eventful period. If any of this game’s periods were won by the Charge, it was certainly the second. Despite Ottawa taking two penalties and Minnesota only taking one, this period saw the Charge outshoot the Frost 16-6. Even on both Minnesota Power Plays, the Charge spent significant time on offense, entirely shutting down Frost scoring opportunities. Still, Frost goalie Maddie Rooney was able to fend off all 16 Charge shots on goal this period.
For most of the third period in game 2 of the Walter Cup Finals, it looked like the teams would head into overtime 0-0. And despite Minnesota’s Claire Thompson taking a penalty and Ottawa’s Tereza Vanišová taking her second penalty both in the first 10 minutes of this period, it continued to look like a game that would be scoreless through regulation with just five minutes to go.
With less than three minutes left in the game, though, Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque was able to perfectly execute a ‘shake-n-bake’ move right in front of the net to get by every single Frost defender as well as their goaltender, Maddie Rooney. Larocque netted the goal, and the game looked like it would be an Ottawa win.
As the clock winded down, and even as the Frost had pulled Maddie Rooney from net, it continued to look like the Charge would close the game out. Unfortunately for Ottawa though, the rule, “third time’s the charm” applies to hockey too. As Charge forward Tereza Vanišová took her third penalty with under 40 seconds left on the clock, the Frost would have a chance for a 6-on-4.
And in this chance, they did not fail. With just 16 seconds to go in regulation, off a hectic play in front of the net, Frost rookie Britta Curl tied the game, sending the second straight game of the Walter Cup Finals to overtime.
In overtime, play was quite back and forth. By the time of the game-winning-goal, the Charge had outshot the Frost in OT 8-5. On top of this, the refs were really letting both teams play in extra-time after a 7-penalty regulation, so the game’s overtime was quite chaotic.
In all of this chaos, Britta Curl, who’d already scored the clutch, game-tying goal, caught a rebound in front of the net, tripped over the Charge defenders, and fired the game-winning-goal past Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips as she was tripping. This marked Curl’s 3rd goal in 5 playoff games, and her 6th goal in 9 games if we count her last four regular season matches as well.
Game 3 will take place on Saturday at the XCel Energy Center in Minnesota. With this win on enemy ice, the Frost have claimed home-ice advantage, and can win the series at home if they sweep the next two games.
Walter Cup Finals Game 2: Three Stars
1st Star – Britta Curl: For scoring two goals when her team needed them most, Britta Curl was the obvious choice for first star of game 2 of the Walter Cup finals. The rookie continues to impress on the ice, and she was also crucial in faceoffs, winning 9 out of her 11.
2nd Star – Maddie Rooney: For saving a massively impressive 38 out of 39 shots that came her way, Maddie Rooney was named the game’s second star. Rooney played quite poorly in round one, so her resurgence here will be very welcome to the Frost. In her post-game interview, Rooney emphasized the blessing it is for her team to have two great goalies, and said that whether she or Nicole Hensley gets the start in game 3, the other will be supporting her friend from the bench.
3rd Star – Jocelyne Larocque: Because of what was her first goal as a member of the Charge, and just her second PWHL goal (regular season + playoffs), Larocque received the honour of being the game’s 3rd star and the only Charge player to make the Three Stars. With Larocque’s impressive moves, you’d have guessed she scores way more often.
Notably, this is the first game of the playoffs for the Charge that goalie Gwyneth Philips was not on the Three Stars for. Still, it’s a testament to her ability as a goaltender that in this “down” game, she still recorded a save percentage of 0.917.
