Ottawa Charge Recap (Week 17) and Playoff Preview

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Just like last year, the Charge made us wait until the end of the season to see if they made the playoffs. Unlike last year, they did, though not without drama. In fact, with Ottawa and Minnesota both winning, they both leapfrogged Boston for the final playoff spots, with all three of those teams tied in points. Ottawa technically finished ahead of Minnesota on the regulation wins tiebreaker since they tied in points, but then Montréal threw down the gauntlet and chose Ottawa for their first-round opponent.

Minnesota 3 at Ottawa 0

Probably the less we say about this game, the better. Ottawa needed to reach OT in this game to clinch a playoff spot. Instead, they were pretty thoroughly outplayed by a hungry-looking Minnesota team. The first period was a tight-checking affair, with chances few and far between, but the second period was a drubbing. Minnesota poured on 17 shots (compared to Ottawa's 9), and it was to Gwyneth Philips' credit that she only allowed a single goal, to Kendall Coyne Schofield. No shame in that. For Philips. Then, with the chance to clinch a playoff spot, they came out flat again in the third, allowing another goal, taking the period's only penalty, and getting nothing going offensively — just 6 shots on goal. It was almost a mercy when Lee Stecklein scored again into the empty net, as that made us all focus on Saturday's game against Toronto with the chance to still clinch a playoff spot.

Ottawa 2 at Toronto 1 (OT)

There we go. A much better game. One that actually comes with goal highlights in the recap. If the last game started off tight-checking, this one started out something tighter than that. The shots were just 5-4 for Ottawa in the first. Then Sarah Nurse got the opening goal for Toronto, and that seemed to spark something in the Charge. Brianne Jenner tied it up a minute later, and Ottawa carried the pressure from there.

Despite Ottawa's sudden desperation, the teams finished regulation all tied up. That meant the Charge still hadn't clinched a playoff spot. Thankfully, they got the OT win, with Kateřina Mrázová finishing a 2-on-1.

Amazingly, that was just the second OT goal in Ottawa's history. It was definitely the right time to break through and score it. Philips only faced 14 shots, but stopping 13 of them sealed her spot as rookie goalie of the year.

First-Round Matchup: Montréal vs. Ottawa

The PWHL playoff format allows the first-place team to pick their first-round opponent. The Montréal Victoire earned that right, and chose to take Ottawa, even though the Charge were technically the higher-seeded team. Maybe they saw Minnesota's 8-1 destruction of Boston in their final game and were worried they'd carry that momentum into the playoffs. Whatever the reason, that gives Ottawa some extra incentive to win after getting called out as the weakest playoff team.​

Montréal won the first four meetings of the season between these teams, then Ottawa won the last two. The Victoire are a formidable opponent, with the league's lead goalscorer (Marie-Philip Poulin, 19 goals), fourth-highest overall scorer (Poulin again, 26 points), and best goalie, Ann-Renée Desbiens, who led in wins (15), save percentage (.932), and goals against average (1.86). The Victoire and the Charge both finished with 12 regulation wins, but Montréal's 7 OT wins stands out vs. Ottawa's 2. ​Montréal was both better offensively (77 vs. 71 goals for) and defensively (67 vs. 80 goals against). Even Montréal's second-worst powerplay (15.5%) beat out Ottawa's league-worst 14.9% work. On the PK, Montréal was second-best at 82.6%, and Ottawa was second-worst at 80.2%. On paper, Ottawa is a little worse at everything. But the playoffs are a different beast, Ottawa got better as the season went on, and the Charge's vibes/60 are off the charts.

This series gets underway 7 pm on Thursday. Remember it's a best-of-5. Here's the full schedule, with TV coverage on TSN/RDS and on YouTube outside of Canada:

Game 1 - Thursday, May 8, 7 pm, Place Bell

Game 2 - Saturday, May 10, 2 pm, Place Bell

Game 3 - Tuesday, May 13, 7 pm, TD Place

Game 4 - Friday, May 16, 7 pm, TD Place (if necessary)

Game 5 - Sunday, May 19, 7 pm, Club Bell (if necessary)

Finally, to get you hyped up, here's the playoff-clinching montages from the Charge.