Ottawa Strikes First

Full marks to the Ottawa Charge as they not only became the first Canadian team to play in a Walter Cup Final, but they secured the first win of the 2025 Walter Cup Final with a 2-1 overtime victory last night. Emily Clark, pictured to the left, notched the game-winner 2:47 into the fourth period to put Ottawa up 1-0 in the series over the Minnesota Frost. No one is over-celebrating this victory as the Charge still need to beat the Frost two additional times, but getting the first win against the defending champions is a big step in the process. What led Ottawa to victory? Can it be done again? Let's take a quick look at both queries.

If there was one thing that more noticeable about this win, it was what didn't happen. Specifically, Minnesota's lethal power-play went silent as the Charge were 2/2 on penalty kills in this first game. Carla MacLeod was asked about this in her postgame press conference.
Ok, that was a very "coach's answer" from Carla, but she's entirely right that special teams are critical in the postseason. We see this in every postseason no matter what league is being analyzed, so having a penalty kill that is feeling confident will be good for the Charge if the Walter Cup is to reside north of the border for the season. Of course, Minnesota's power-play could wake up and blow the doors off the rink in the next game, so disciplined play should remain a priority for the Charge as they move forward in this series.

The second factor for the Charge to continue their strong push is to keep the scorers scoring. The Charge only have one scorer in the top-ten playoff scoring leaders right now, and that's Emily Clark. Rebecca Leslie, who scored last night, and Brianna Jenner are doing their parts in trying to hit the scoresheet, but the Charge need a bigger push from Victoria Bach (one shot), Gabbie Hughes (two shots), and Shiann Darkangelo (no shots) if they're going to give the Frost fits. Depth scoring is always key in the playoffs, and those three have a combined one goal among them. They need to get their games going to give the Charge a scoring bump through the rest of this series.

Make no mistake that the defence and goaltending has been solid for the Charge, and that's what they've been leaning on in these playoffs, specifically at home. The Charge recorded 1-0 and 2-1 victories at home over the Montreal Victoire, and they just added a 2-1 overtime win over Minnesota. If you're keeping track, goaltender Gwyneth Philips is 70/72 for saves in the playoffs at home. That speaks volumes about how well the defence is playing in front of her as much as it does for Philips making those saves. If she can see the puck, she'll stop it. If the Charge are going to win, they'll need strong defence and solid netminding all the way through this series.

In short, win the special teams battle, get some depth scoring, and play solid defence. That pretty much sums up the Charge's charge through these PWHL Playoffs so far, and they now sit two wins away from bringing the Walter Cup north of the border. Game Two goes tomorrow night in Ottawa before shifting to St. Paul, so we'll see if the Charge can continue their winning ways at TD Place as well.

If the Charge can win both games in Ottawa like they did against Montreal, Minnesota will face a tough climb if they hope to stand atop the PWHL mountain once again. As we know, every playoff game is a one-game-at-a-time situation, so Ottawa will look for another win tomorrow in their quest to being the Walter Cup to Canada!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!