Charge Lose 2-1 in Overtime Again

I was optimistic at first, but I'm not going to lie, after that last power-play, I was ready for a mercy kill.

The Ottawa Charge may have dropped Game 2 to the Minnesota Frost on Thursday, but their opponents needed a lot of help. More help than I've ever seen professional referees give to a professional hockey team – coming from someone who's watched the sport for nearly 20 years, including calls like this.

Seriously, I haven't seen a woman handed an undeserved victory like that since Hell's Kitchen: All Stars. Not unlike your Ottawa Charge, Nick Peters Bond was robbed.

Not today, though. The Charge were thoroughly outplayed in Game 3 and deserved the 2-1 triple overtime loss they got. Gwyneth Phillips made 45 saves in the losing effort, and while she was the game's best player by a country mile, the defensive play in front of her wasn't that bad, going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The offense, on the other hand, was embarrassing. They literally failed to score on a 3-on-0 rush. A THREE-ON-O RUSH!!! I couldn't find the clip, but here's a dramatic rendition:

Emily Clark made some nice plays with her speed and had some of the Charge's best chances, including the opening goal, in which she takes full advantage of chaos in front of Maddie Rooney and deposits the puck far side.

I know people are worried about losing 4 players in the upcoming expansion draft, but from what I've seen, they'll come through relatively unscathed if they protect these three:

• Philips, obviously.
• Clark, not just for clutch goal scoring, but for being the Charge's most (only?) dangerous player, on a consistent basis.
• And Ashton Bell, who shut down many opposing opportunities off the rush tonight. Where the Charge forwards largely whiffed on their own chances, Bell constantly had her stick in the right place to support Philips, shutting down what looked like a much more skilled Frost team.

At the very least, they'll be the same structured team that doesn't score much. And with a team that primarily wins games through goaltending and defense, replacing the main offensive contributors won't be too difficult.

Take Rebecca Leslie, for example. After scoring a mere 3 points in 27 regular-season games, she's at that same mark after just 7 playoff games. She's a potential candidate to step in and replace a top-six forward selected by Vancouver or Seattle.

A 3-on-0, you guys. I still can't believe it.

Alas, Philips made several key stops to keep the Charge from running out, including this poke check on Denisa Krizova early in the 1st period.

I thought she was perhaps interfered with on Lee Stecklein's game-tying goal, but the former was right at the edge of her crease and there wasn't any contact until after the puck was going past her and into the net. Either way, too much of a risk to challenge.

As we know, nobody scored after that early second period marker, until the halfway point of the third overtime. A few minutes prior, Ottawa had their 4th power-play of the game, and it was pretty lousy. There were a few rush chances, but the attempts they took at Rooney off the setup weren't nearly as dangerous as those Philips had to face. It felt like a death knell.

Or perhaps, a death Knoll? Too soon?

See y'all for Game 4 at 5pm tomorrow.