Ottawa Charge Recap: Week 16

Our charged friends had just one game this past week, and made a statement, beating the Boston Fleet 4-0. That win kept the Charge in the final playoff position, 1 point ahead of Minnesota and 1 point behind Boston, with each team having 3 games left. We'll have to wait nearly a month though, with the Charge off until April 26 due to the 'awkwardly timed' IIHF Women's World Championships.

Last Week: Ottawa 4, Boston 0

This was a huge game for Shiann Darkangelo. Yes, any game with a hat-trick is a big game, but it feels extra big given her history. Darkangelo was acquired at the 2024 trade deadline from Boston for fan favourite Lexie Adzija. Adzija had carved out a role as a power forward and a fixture in the community, and fans were mad about losing her without knowing much of anything about Darkangelo — though she was captain of the Toronto Six in 2022-23 when they won the Isobel Cup. Darkangelo didn't have a great start to her Ottawa career, going pointless in 7 games as Ottawa missed the playoffs, and her start to this season still hasn't been great, with 11 points in 25 games. So getting a hat-trick against her former team must have felt extra sweet.

The Charge got the game going quickly. They drew a penalty just 30 seconds in, and 15 seconds later Darkangelo had them on the board. It was a nice quick start, keeping the momentum going from their 2-1 win over Boston the previous week.

It was a pretty evenly fought first period, but the good team carried a 1-0 lead into the break. The second period was also hard-fought and close, but the Charge got two more goals. First, Ronja Savolainen went end to end, allowing Darkangelo to fire a shot through Aerin Frankel.

The an effective forecheck allowed Jincy Roese to retrieve the puck and fire home her third of the year.

I do think Frankel would've wanted that one back, and though it wasn't the end of her game immediately, she was pulled at the end of the second, giving Emma Söderberg a period of action in the Boston net. While the game had only seen 15 seconds of penalty time to that point, penalties were all over the place in the third. First Alina Müller went off for boarding, but Anna Meixner went off for tripping just 13 seconds into the powerplay. The lack of powerplay didn't matter, because Darkangelo completed the hatty on the 4-on-4.

Things then heated up more when Müller hit Alexa Vasko into the ice. The Charge took exception, and Rebecca Leslie and Zoe Boyd both went at Müller. Kind of unfortunately, Boyd's cross-check hit Müller in the helmet, so she got an automatic 5-minute major and a game misconduct for the play, while Müller got 2 minutes. It was a deserved penalty to Boyd, but Müller was pissed at losing and had been looking for blood. This seemed like the kind of play the refs could've avoided by getting a handle on her earlier. Take a look at the only replay I could find of the sequence and form your own opinion.

I'd probably be more upset if this penalty had cost Ottawa the game, but it really didn't. The only problem is now Boyd is suspended for the next game. I don't know if Boston had given up on the game or if Ottawa was stifling, but either way the game was pretty non-eventful from there. Despite getting 3 minutes of powerplay after the Boston minor expired, the Fleet couldn't get anything going. The Charge nullified all score effects, only allowing 2 shots from Boston in the whole third period. Savolainen took a penalty late in garbage time, but it didn't matter. Gwyneth Philips got her second shutout of the season, and Ottawa got the crucial three points.

Coming Up

The Women's Worlds start on April 9, with Canada starting on April 10 against Finland. TSN and RDS will televise all games; for American readers, you can find them on NHL Network. For those looking to watch Charge players, here are the representatives on each team:

Group A

Canada: Jocelyne Larocque, Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Danielle Serdachny

Czechia: Kateřina Mrázová, Aneta Tejralová, Tereza Vanišová

Finland: Ronja Savolainen

Switzerland: none

USA: Gwyneth Philips

Group B

Germany, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Sweden: none