The Ottawa Charge finds itself in a precarious position after suffering its second consecutive overtime defeat, leaving the team with just one life left in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) championship final.
Flaherty's OT winner seals Victoire victory
Maggie Flaherty scored at 14:12 of overtime to give the Montreal Victoire a 2-1 victory over the Charge on Saturday at Place Bell in Laval. The win puts Montreal up 2-0 in the best-of-five Walter Cup final series.
Flaherty was left alone in front of the net for the winner after Ottawa defender Emma Greco appeared to be tripped by Montreal's Kaitlin Willoughby. The goal sparked celebrations among the Victoire players, while the Charge were left to rue another close call.
Ottawa's losing streak arrives at worst time
The Charge had not dropped back-to-back games in more than six weeks, a span of 10 games dating back to the regular season. Their last consecutive losses came on April 1 against Toronto and April 3 against Montreal. This sudden skid could not have come at a worse time.
It was the second Walter Cup final game in a row, and the sixth consecutive going back to last May, that was decided in overtime. The Victoire took Game 1 by scoring with three seconds left in the third period, setting up Abby Roque's second goal of the night just 2:29 into overtime.
Game details
The Victoire outshot the Charge 29-21 in this contest, including a 6-5 margin in overtime. Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, with a start time of 6 p.m.
The teams entered the final 20 minutes of regulation time Saturday deadlocked at one due to a goal by Montreal's Kati Tabin just 32 seconds into the middle period. That goal came just five seconds after Emily Clark and Laura Stacey went off with coincidental minor penalties. From a faceoff in the circle to the right of the Ottawa net, the puck slipped out to Tabin, who pulled it to her backhand for a shot just under the bar on Gwyneth Philips' stick side.
The Charge registered just 11 shots through two periods, while Montreal had 15.
Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod noted during a TV interview in the intermission that there were "lots of positives from a movement perspective, but we've got to shoot more pucks."
The Charge opened the scoring for the seventh game in a row when Sarah Wozneiwicz fired a shot through a crowd in front of the net at 8:38 of the first period. Montreal had a chance to tie the game a couple of minutes later after Stacey blocked a shot at her own blueline for a short-handed breakaway, but she lost control of the puck when attempting to deke Philips. Ottawa held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes despite trailing 11-5 in shots.
