PWHL Ottawa may have turned a corner from a team who gives up leads, to a team that few want to face down the stretch.
PWHL Ottawa may have turned a corner from a team who gives up leads, to a team that few want to face down the stretch.
Ottawa had become a team known for blowing leads early in the inaugural PWHL season. On multiple occasions they'd entered the third period up, only to watch a lead evaporate. There is the team that Ottawa was...and there's the team they could be becoming.
Sunday against Montreal, who sits tied atop the PWHL standings with Toronto, Ottawa held off multiple surges from Montreal in the third period to secure a crucial three-point regulation win. It wasn't only the win, it was how Ottawa won.
"What’s more exciting is how we did it. We are seeing the pieces of our game come together," said head coach Carla MacLeod. "There were more blocked shots. There were more gritty back checks. We moved the puck a little harder. We’re still managing blue lines in the third periods but we were better at it today than we were last game. Then, there is the resiliency. We let in a few goals in the third, but we responded well on both occasions. That is all stuff that we have been working towards as a group throughout the season."
Ottawa's top three blueliners had a standout performance with Aneta Tejralova, Savannah Harmon, and Ashton Bell eating significant minutes, and the team's top two-way forward Hayley Scamurra playing major minutes late in the game.
Not only did their defensive play improve, but Ottawa is beginning to get consistency from their top scorers including Daryl Watts, Brianne Jenner, and Katerina Mrazova who is on a six game point streak.
From inconsistent, and squandering leads, to a come from behind game against Minnesota to take a shootout point, and a hard fought regulation win over Minnesota, Ottawa is looking more like the team they hoped to be.