Playoff implications were the story of the day as the Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge faced off Saturday at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Ottawa needed a win to get in, while the Sceptres had clinched and were playing to try to capture first overall.
Both teams played a cautious first period, with only nine total shots on goal. Neither goalie was tested, with mostly peripheral play.
In the second, however, the pace picked up and the Sceptres were the first to capitalize. At 12:15, Sarah Nurse made a neat move in tight on Philips, moving the puck backhand to forehand between her feet then putting it up and over Ottawa netminder Gwyneth Philips. Renata Fast collected her league-leading 16th assist on the tally.
In case the Charge were scoreboard watching, they had extra motivation to step on the gas because the Minnesota Frost had taken a quick 2-0 lead in their game against Boston, which threatened Ottawa’s playoff outlook even farther.
Answering the call was captain Brianne Jenner, who scored from the crease on a rebound just under a minute later. Shiann Darkangelo was involved in scramble for the bouncing puck shot by Teresa Vanisova from the side wall that Jenner eventually found. They looked much more determined, with a shot edge over the Sceptres 11-4 in the middle frame.
Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod might have let her players know in the intermission that the Frost were ahead 3-0, and that at that point a victory was probably their only path to the playoffs.
They pressed, but also seemed unable to find the extra gear they needed. The Charge did outshoot the home side 7-6 but Gabbie Hughes took a tripping penalty and Philips was called on to make several season-saving stops on Nurse, Miller, and Watts.
Regulation ended 1-1, and heading into overtime the pressure was all on the Charge. Only a few chances followed, but halfway through the five-minutes, a puck was turned over in the Ottawa zone and forward Kateřina Mrázová skated in with only forward Maggie Connors defending. She made no mistake, using speed and vision to stop a wrist shot high to the glove side on Campbell.
The Charge bench erupted as their playoff ticket was punched, and at the hands of one of their most clutch players. It was Mrázová’s first goal since February 1, after missing 11 games on long-term injured reserve. For Carla MacLeod, the winning goal was fitting.
“It's always been a team effort so I know for 'Mraska' too it's not about that individual moment it’s just the collective feel but you know when you see players and they're going through adversity, and injuries are one of the biggest challenges when you're a player. So [it’s great] when you see players that are able to sort of push through those moments and find themselves back in the game, which is where they're most comfortable.
“You always want your players to be healthy and engaged in the game. And you know, at the end of the day, just thrilled that the team’s in the spot that it's in now.
“it's pretty thrilling just to see where we're at and really how we went about it today. Really proud of the collective effort. We just didn't stop competing and didn't let any moment swing us one way or the other to truly just stay true to who we are. It was impressive.”
Defender Jocelyne Larocque (who was traded from Toronto to Ottawa on Dec. 30) said, “This group is really special and we worked so hard tonight, and I think we got the outcome that we deserved. So it feels good. And we're looking forward to playoffs.”
Toronto’s coach Troy Ryan remarked that offense will only get tougher to find once the playoffs are underway:
“We’ve got to understand that our offense may look a little bit different in this league as things get tightened up and that it's going to get worse in the playoffs. So you've got to be prepared to get pucks in behind the D, you’ve got to get space a little bit better in the O zone. You’ve got to get to the crease, you’ve got to get, one person at one post, another person on the other post. You’ve got to be difficult to play against and you’ve got to hang in there and win battles in dangerous areas. If you want to produce offensively.”
Toronto’s Renata Fast said the team is ready.
“I think we have all the right reasons to be confident in our group. I mean, this league is so tight every single night. It's low scoring games. It's comes down to one or two plays and we just talked in the locker room. (Toronto GM) Gina (Kingsbury) said to finish second in a league like this is pretty incredible, and that's something we can build off of. I think we've been building our game all season long. I truly don't think we've hit our peak and there's no better time to do it than now.”
PWHL playoffs begin Wednesday in Toronto. First-place finishers Montreal will have the opportunity to choose their first-round opponent between Ottawa and Minnesota, while the second-place Sceptres will face the other.