After collapse against New York, Ottawa Charge face must-win game Saturday
Charge set to take on Boston Fleet in St. Louis on CBC Sports in quest for playoff spot
After her team blew a 3-0 lead in the third period on Tuesday, yielding six unanswered goals, Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod couldn't explain to reporters what had happened to her team.
The Charge had a valuable three points within their grasp, only to see them slip away on home ice at the hands of a hungry, last-place New York Sirens team.
"A pretty good, solid two periods obviously gave [us] an opportunity to win a hockey game, an important hockey game," MacLeod said after Tuesday's game, flanked by captain Brianne Jenner and Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie. "To see it transpire the way that it did in the third, it's hard to articulate. I don't have the answers."
It's left Ottawa on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, facing a must-win game against Boston in St. Louis on Saturday. You can watch the game on CBC Sports' platforms, including CBC Gem, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
At stake is the prospect of a second straight year out of the post-season.
It's an idea Ottawa general manager Mike Hirshfeld doesn't want to accept, and a weight he said he wears on behalf of Ottawa's rabid fanbase every day.
Hirshfeld has seen many people talk about his team like it has already been eliminated from the playoff race after Tuesday's loss. But he remains confident in them.
"It was three points we could have used, but we're right in this thing," Hirshfeld said in an interview with CBC Sports from St. Louis. "We have a game in hand [on Minnesota] and we're only two points down. We're trying to keep it in perspective and we know that we have it in our own hands."
'A confluence of bad luck, bad decisions'
Tuesday's collapse began with a tipped puck a little more than a minute into the third period.
Things got worse when the Charge took three back-to-back penalties, two of which led to power-play goals for the Sirens.
Jade Downie-Landry and Sarah Fillier scored a little more than a minute apart to push the Sirens ahead. Ottawa had a chance to climb back with a power play late in the third, but couldn't do it. An empty-netter from New York's Alex Carpenter sealed it.
Jenner told reporters the team's attitude was to push back, but bad habits caught up to them.
"It was a confluence of bad luck, bad decisions, some poor play at the absolute wrong time," Hirshfeld said. "We know that we're better than that."
WATCH | Sirens score 6 times in 3rd period to defeat Charge:
The team cancelled a planned day off on Wednesday. Instead, the players were on the ice for what the general manager described as a "really hard practice."
The goal was not to let the loss linger, and to quickly move past it.
"We challenged our players to compete and I think they stepped up," Hirshfeld said. "We've had some discussions internally about it, about what we can do in the clubhouse, on the bench, about how we can support each other in those difficult moments of adversity."
The first challenge for Ottawa is to stay out of the penalty box. The team has been short-handed more than any other in the league, and goes into Saturday's game with the worst penalty-killing percentage (76.1 per cent).
At times, Tereza Vanišová has provided Ottawa with a spark, whether it's from her infamous fight against Boston's Jill Saulnier earlier this season or by her ability to find the net. Vanišová leads the team in both points (18) and goals (13).
She's been "hugely important" and the player that the team expected to get when they acquired her from Montreal at last year's trade deadline, Hirshfeld said.
But Vanišová also has more penalty minutes than any other player in the league. Her most recent infraction was a holding call in the midst of Ottawa's collapse in the third period on Tuesday.
"That's part of her game but it can't be at the level she is doing it currently," the GM said. "We want her to be competitive. We want her to be tough. We need her to be smarter in certain situations."
Slim margins
The team is surely missing top centre Kateřina Mrázová, who's on the long-term injured reserve. Meanwhile, 2024 second-overall pick Danielle Serdachny has been pointless throughout March, and started Tuesday's game centering the third line.
Ottawa also goes into a crucial stretch without its starting goaltender, Emerance Maschmeyer. She sustained an injury earlier this month that will see her miss the world championship in April, along with some crucial games for the Charge.
"We're hopeful that both of them have an opportunity to play in the last three games and hopefully help us in the playoffs if we get there," Hirshfeld said.
Maschmeyer's injury has pushed goaltender Gwyneth Philips into the starter's role after a solid rookie season. She was in net for five tallies against New York on Tuesday. But Hirshfeld stressed the blame for the lost game can't be placed on Philips, who kept the team in it throughout the first two periods.
WATCH | Mic'd Up with Sirens defender Jaime Bourbonnais:
Last season, Ottawa's playoff hopes came down to the final days of the regular season. Only three points separated Ottawa from third-place Boston and fourth-place Minnesota. Both those teams went on to compete in the Walter Cup final.
It's a sign of the parity in this six-team league, where one bad period can be the difference between being in or out. And if you're in, anyone has a shot.
Ottawa's focus is getting in, and that starts with Saturday's game in St. Louis, The final Takeover Tour game on the league's schedule will be a homecoming for Ottawa assistant captain Jincy Roese, who's from O'Fallon, Mo.
"We control our own destiny," the GM said.
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