Ottawa Charge Recap: Week 8

The Charge are now dead last in the league, and wow do they deserve it. Hopefully a few weeks off will help them figure things out???

Last Week: Ottawa 1, Montreal 4

• The best thing I can say about this game is that the first period was very good! I went in with no expectations, and was shocked to find the Charge holding their own pretty well, and way ahead of the Victoire in shots for most of the period. They gave up a few too many scary chances, but it wasn’t terrible.
• Halfway through the first period, Tereza Vanisova redireted a shot from the point to put Ottawa ahead.

🚨 Tereza Vanišová (4)
🍎 Jincy Roese
🍏 Jocelyne Larocque pic.twitter.com/IkW7j6Qdu4

— Ottawa Charge (@PWHL_Ottawa) January 30, 2025

• Unfortunately, the team absolutely crashed and burned in the second period. It was a disaster. Their lead in the shot clock disappeared. Two powerplays were unsuccessful. Montreal scored three goals, two of them by Poulin.
• Ottawa showed no fight whatsoever in the third. They’re so bad, everyone. Borderline unwatchable.
• It never felt like there was a chance the Charge would come back. Sure enough, Montreal sealed the deal with an empty netter. Obviously, it was Poulin, so she got the hat trick. Lovely.
• Gwyneth Phillips started the game, but was pulled after the third goal. I wouldn’t say she was the main problem, but with the way the team was playing, they needed a brick wall in net, and she wasn’t that.
• Nobody played particularly well. I noticed Vanisova and Clark a lot, but that’s about it.
• I hate to say it, but I felt like this was one of Aneta Tejralova’s worst games in the PWHL. She’s usually so quiet and dependable - and this season she’s been so much more active offensively - but in this game I felt like she was constantly out of position and made a lot of noticeable mistakes. Very uncharacteristic for her.
• On that topic, I do also want to note that there was a very weird miscommunication on the third Montreal goal, where Tejralova was left without a stick for a long shift. I get that everyone had been on the ice for a while and maybe hadn’t noticed that their defender was playing without a stick, but it’s common practice in those situations for one of the forwards to give the defender their stick, and I thought it was odd that that didn’t happen. The team as a whole was just not good.

Last Week: Ottawa 2, Toronto 4

• This game was better! Didn’t get a better result, though.
• Ottawa once again got off to a decent start, winning the shot clock in the first period, but this time Toronto scored the game’s opening goal right before the intermission.
• Emily Clark tied the game early in the second, but Toronto answered quickly. They scored another goal before the period was over.

🚨 Emily Clark (4)
🍎 Kateřina Mrázová
🍏 Brianne Jenner pic.twitter.com/gm34ZkRI8T

— Ottawa Charge (@PWHL_Ottawa) February 1, 2025

• Toronto then went ahead 4-1 early in the third period.
• Mrazova gave us a bit of hope with a goal a few minutes later, but it wasn’t enough. No comeback for the Charge.

🚨 Kateřina Mrázová (2)
🍎 Ronja Savolainen
🍏 Ashton Bell pic.twitter.com/hubQAAqfnd

— Ottawa Charge (@PWHL_Ottawa) February 1, 2025

No games this week, as the league goes on a break for international tournaments. You can catch the Rivalry Series between Canada and the US on February 6th and 8th. The Charge will play their next game on the 13th!