Rebecca Leslie delivered a dramatic game-winning goal with 54.8 seconds remaining, capping an inspiring comeback as the Ottawa Charge defeated the Montreal Victoire 2-1 in Game 3 of the Professional Women's Hockey League Walter Cup final on Monday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The victory keeps the Charge alive in the best-of-five series, which Montreal now leads 2-1. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
A record PWHL playoff crowd of 16,894 witnessed the thrilling finish. Sarah Wozniewicz set up the winning goal by breaking down the left side and forcing a save from Montreal goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens. Leslie pounced on the rebound and fired it past Desbiens' glove.
Ottawa had trailed 1-0 until rookie Peyton Hemp tied the game with 5:30 remaining. Hemp worked herself free to fire home the rebound of a point shot by Ronja Savolainen for her first playoff goal.
Montreal had taken the lead with 12:28 left in the third period. Former Charge forward Hayley Scamurra was positioned near Gwyneth Philips' right goal post and flipped the puck into the open side after a wide shot by Maureen Murphy rebounded off the end boards.
The goal injected urgency into the Charge, who carried the momentum for the remainder of the period until Leslie's heroics sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The first two periods were scoreless, with Ottawa missing a golden opportunity early in the second period. The Charge had a 5-on-3 power play for 90 seconds but failed to register a single shot on goal.
Very few scoring chances were created by either side through the rest of the period. The biggest save came from Philips, who used her left shoulder to stop a wrister from Lina Ljungblom from the slot. The rebound popped up without Philips seeing it, but no Montreal player was near the loose puck.
Both teams had nine shots on goal in a sloppy first period. Ottawa held Montreal's top-ranked power play to a total of four shots with two extra-player advantages. The first came when Emma Greco was called for tripping at 13:02, and the second after Leslie was penalized for cross-checking 40 seconds after the first penalty expired.
Ottawa entered the middle period on the power play after Maureen Murphy was given a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass 6.2 seconds before the intermission. Laura Stacey took a hooking penalty 24 seconds into the second, giving Ottawa a glorious chance to break the ice.
Wozniewicz and Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin led their respective teams with three shots each, as Ottawa held an 18-15 advantage through 40 minutes.
