Quick-strike goals from Jincy Roese and Tereza Vanišová flipped the story for Ottawa in the third period, earning the Charge a home-opening win

Stepping onto the ice for the third period against the Toronto Sceptres, the Ottawa Charge appeared destined to succumb to another all-too-familiar momentum swing in their home opener at TD Place.

A strong first-period start had slowly given way to a slow second period filled with costly mistakes, leading to goals from Sarah Nurse and Izzy Daniel and a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

But Ottawa flipped the script, eking out a 3-2 win on the strength of two quick third-period goals from Jincy Roese and Tereza Vanišová.

For Roese, whose power-play marker tied the game, it was her first PWHL goal after the defender went scoreless through her first season on the Ottawa blueline.

“Good things come to those who wait, isn’t what they say?” Roese said with a laugh. “So yeah, I felt really good, especially at home in front of fans who are just excited for us, excited for me, so it was awesome.”

“You’re always pleased when a player who works as hard as she does, and really we got a crew of that, you’re always pleased when they’re rewarded,” head coach Carla MacLeod said.

Just minutes later, Kateřina Mrázová made a slick move at the blueline to create a 2-on-1 rush with Vanišová entering the Sceptres’ zone. She dished the puck across for an easy tap-in goal for her fellow Czech national teammate.

“They're fantastic players, so it's awesome to see them have that chemistry and get to do their thing here in this league,” Roese said of the Czech teammates.

Also key to Ottawa’s success was their vastly improved defensive play. After allowing 45 shots in their season-opening game against the Montreal Victoire on Saturday, the Charge kept the Sceptres to just 22 while firing 31 shots of their own. Maschmeyer came up large when needed, especially on the penalty kill, but her workload was greatly reduced.

MacLeod chalked a lot of that up to staying out of the penalty box, which they had trouble with on Saturday, taking seven minor penalties.

“We were just on penalty kill too much against Montreal … they just took advantage of the power plays they had. I think tonight hopefully gives a bit of a better gauge of where we sit sort of in a natural game where there's that you know, handful this way, handful that way from a special teams’ perspective.

“But we also worked a lot between that game and this game and trying to figure out make sure that without the puck, we're in better spots.”

More than that, MacLeod said the right adjustments were made after a disappointing result in Montreal on Saturday after holding a lead going into the final period.

“We’re believing in our style and what we can do and certainly tonight we were able to establish ourselves a little differently,” MacLeod said.

Despite controlling the majority of possession and chances through the middle period, Ottawa conceded a deflating goal by Toronto’s Daniel late in the frame that threatened to pull the team down.

“There’s gonna be ebbs and flows and moments in a game, but felt really confident in where we were going and what we were doing.”

The two quick-strike goals in the third period just minutes apart showed resiliency, Roese said.

“We've got a dog in us, we've got a fight in us and yeah, I think we showed that in the third period,” Roese said. “I think that's what mattered.”

Also scoring her first PWHL goal for Ottawa was rookie Mannon McMahon. She got TD Place rocking seven minutes into the game by staking a 1-0 lead for the Charge.

Entering the zone with Alexa Vasko, McMahon accepted a perfectly-timed cross-ice pass beyond the reach of the diving Rylind MacKinnon. Alone with Sceptres goaltender Kristen Campbell, McMahon went against the grain, hitting the twine on the blocker side.

McMahon admitted she was surprised not only that she scored her first PWHL goal but also the first of the season at TD Place.

“I think it was a surprise almost, just going out there, doing my job, got a nice pass from Vasko and found myself alone with the goalie, so it was amazing, just a good team win today, so it was nice to add to that,” McMahon said.

With four out of a possible six points in the books, Ottawa is hopeful captain Brianne Jenner will be available for the team’s Friday game against Montreal at Canadian Tire Centre.

“What we're trying to do is become the best team, and certainly you want Jenner going and in the lineup, but what's nice to see is we just got players that can rise, and you know, that's what we're looking to establish here … When one player goes down, you want to be able to sort of say ‘it's okay, let's just keep going,’” MacLeod said.