u/Retired-ADM

It was a season for the books. In the off-season, we lost some talent and many were more than a little worried when the first puck dropped last November. The early couple of months had a few nail-biters and Ottawa found themselves behind the pack. They never gave up and even won their last four games straight and it took the last game of the season for the Charge to eke into the playoffs. We all knew they were better than their record. Heck, even the Victoire chose to not play Ottawa in that first round. They knew it too.

We saw some amazing individual performances along the way: Jenner, Leslie, Hughes, Kadirova, Woz, Savolainen, Larocque, Markowski, Clark. And Philips. Especially Philips - at only 25, she has a bright future ahead for her (and for us!). We had a lot of bright sparks but it's how these pros played as a team that really impressed. I really thought they gelled over the course of the season, rallying behind coach Carla, finding ways to win in a sometimes-gruelling schedule, and just competing hard game in and game out. Oh yeah, and there were the Olympic games in their too.

The team gave us a lot to cheer for over the last five months or so. Yeah, last night wasn't our night but let's acknowledge the Victoire and congratulate their stars for bringing the Walter Cup to Canada for the first time. I'd rather have seen Jenner, Leslie, and Philips hoist the Cup but it sure was nice to see Poulin as a champion. I want that for us next year.

Soon, we will head into the uncertainty of the expansion draft, unsure of what lies ahead of us. But let's all pause while this team is how it is in the moment and thank this Ottawa Charge team for all they accomplished this year.

Bravo!

I looked at games between the final four clubs and here are their records against the other three clubs:

1. Montreal 6-1-0 12 pts
2. Colorado 4-1-2 10 pts
3. Vegas 3-2-2 8 pts
4. Carolina 1-6-0 2 pts

Carolina's lone victory was a 6-5 SO win over Colorado way back on October 23rd. Montreal's lone loss was 2-7 against Colorado on November 29th.

Completely meaningless but it shows that Montreal did well against strong teams so I thought I'd share.

I was on the edge of my seat all game and leapt to my feet when Becca notched the game winner in the final minute.

With her game winner in the final minute last night, Leslie not only won the game for us but also achieved:

• her fourth goal of the playoffs - tied for best in the league
• now at .86 points per game in the post-season - 3rd in the league
• 6 points so far - 2nd in the league, just behind Poulin
• 20% shooting percent on 20 shots - 4th in the league
• her first playoff game winning goal in the PWHL
• her fifth game winning goal since the start of the regular season

Remember, this is the same Rebecca Leslie who scored 14 regular season goals (2nd most in the league), 23 points (5th), .77 PPG (11th). Until this season, Rebecca had never scored a game winner in the PWHL.

Becca is on fire and at just the right time.

Go Charge Go!

If Canadiens, Sabres series is decided in six games

Game 1: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Tue. May 19 at TBD
Game 2: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Thurs. May 21 at TBD
Game 3: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Sat. May 23 at TBD
Game 4: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Mon. May 25 at TBD
*Game 5: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Wed. May 27 at TBD
*Game 6: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Fri. May 29 at TBD
*Game 7: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Sun. May 31 at TBD

If Canadiens, Sabres series is decided in seven games

Game 1: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Thurs. May 21 at TBD
Game 2: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Sat. May 23 at TBD
Game 3: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Mon. May 25 at TBD
Game 4: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Wed. May 27 at TBD
*Game 5: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Fri. May 29 at TBD
*Game 6: Carolina at Buffalo/Montreal, Sun. May 31 at TBD
*Game 7: Buffalo/Montreal at Carolina, Tues. June 2 at TBD

Droughts aren't unusual for top goal scorers, especially when you play seven games against a team that line matches to snuff out top scorers.

And this drought isn't unprecedented even for Caufield as he went 10 games without an even strength goal just this past December. He broke out of that slump as he'll break out of this one.

Game 1 was a heartbreaker. Yeah, Boston outplayed us in the second frame but Philips held the door shut for 58 minutes of the game. Those two quick goals at the end of the second were tough but she'll come back tonight even stronger tonight - that's just who she is and what she does.

Go Charge Go!

Further a team up 3-2 after winning game 5 on the road wins game 6 at home 61% of the time.

The trailing team after game 5 (regardless of home or away) has only won the series 20.4% of the time after being down 3-2.

In other numbers...

The MoneyPuck "Deserve To Win O'Meter" number for Montreal for the games in the series thus far:

1. 68.9% W
2. 55.8% L
3. 52.6% W
4. 29.5% L
5. 69.6% W

The team's really only laid one egg. Let's hope they're done with eggs.

The spectre of losing to the Sceptres and missing the playoffs is just too much for me to contemplate.

Spoiler alert:

The Charge are going to win today. Leslie scores again today and Philips shuts the door!

Philips was a brick wall and (once again) Leslie and Jenner provided the offence. It was an OTW and Ottawa needed a RW to clinch.

That solidifies fourth place at 41 pts for the Charge but their work isn't done yet. Toronto is 3 points behind at 38 pts. Each team has a game remaining and that game is against each other in Ottawa two days from now (2 pm TD Place).

Toronto needs to win in regulation on Saturday. That would tie Ottawa on points but the tiebreaker is regulation wins and a RW on Saturday would give the Sceptres an 11-8 advantage and eliminate Ottawa. :(

A win (in regulation or OT) or an OT loss would give the Charge more points than the Sceptres and punch their ticket into the playoffs.

Given the stakes, this game is going to be super Charged.