The Ottawa Charge have been working on their power play, and hope the return of Katerina Mrazova from injury will be the jumpstart they need.
The Ottawa Charge have been working on their power play, and hope the return of Katerina Mrazova from injury will be the jumpstart they need.
Coming off Gwyneth Philips’ first career PWHL shutout, a 22 save performance against the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday, the Ottawa Charge find themselves back in the win column heading into a game in which their opponent, the New York Sirens, will be looking to do just the same after a tough loss to Toronto on Saturday.
The majority of their final full practice ahead of said matchup was focused on improving on what was a strength of theirs from last season: the power play.
“For our group, we know that it’s an area where we can start to get a goal or two in a game,” coach MacLeod said. “So it’s a collective approach to get a little more play into our power play, just a little more excitement and to move to the open spaces and generate some shots.”
Two aspects in particular were focused on during the power play drills, in which the forwards could be seen challenging the shooters more and getting into lanes more consistently, as well as observing the offensive forwards working on their net front presence, screening the goaltender while also looking for secondary scoring opportunities.
While the injection of a player like Katerina Mrázová, who has been out of the lineup with an injury, should help the team in generating offense overall, it will be especially noticeable on special teams, where the Charge find themselves at the bottom of the league at just 12.5%. Contrast that to the New York Sirens, who have been strong on the penalty kill this season, as they lead the league at 88.5%.