Ottawa Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer (38) stops a dangerous chance from New York Sirens forward Jessie Eldridge (9) on Jan. 27 at TD Place Arena. The Sirens shut out the Charge 3-0, leapfrogging them into third place in the PWHL standings. [Photo by PWHL]

The Ottawa Charge could not find a way around New York Sirens rookie goaltender Kayle Osborne in a 3-0 loss on Jan. 27 at TD Place Arena. 

On top of stopping 31 shots, Osborne made a heroic sprawling save on what seemed to be an empty net for Charge blueliner Jocelyn Larocque, keeping Ottawa off the scoresheet in their best scoring chance of the game.

It was a special night for Osborne, who started for the first time in front of her hometown crowd in Ottawa in only her third career PWHL game. The 22-year-old last played on Jan. 7 — also against the Charge — stopping 34 shots in a 3-2 loss. In their rematch, Osborne earned her first PWHL win in a 31-save shutout. 

“Just felt so confident with her behind us,” said Sirens forward Alex Carpenter on Osborne’s performance. “Sometimes the nerves can probably get the better of you playing in your hometown in front of so many family and friends, but I think she took the excitement of it and it showed today.” 

The last and only time the Charge won at TD Place this season was in their home opener on Dec. 3 against the Toronto Sceptres, failing to give the home crowd any victories to cheer about since. Ottawa is tied with the Sirens for last in the PWHL in home wins. 

With the shutout, the Sirens leapfrogged the Charge for third place in the PWHL standings. 

“We really needed a big game on the road tonight and we were at the end of a long road trip,” Osborne said. “I think our team’s play tonight was pretty good.” 

The Charge came off a 1-0 win on the road against the Minnesota Frost, where rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips earned her own first career PWHL win and shutout.

It was the Charge who were held off the scoresheet on Jan. 27, but Charge head coach Carla MacLeod said she still wants to recognize the positives. 

“We’ve got prolific offence in our room,” MacLeod said. “It ebbs and flows for everyone in this league at all times.

“It’s a game, and we know we’re getting better. We can see it in our opportunities.”

Just two minutes into the game, Sirens forward Chloe Aurard opened the scoring for her squad with a wild bounce that floated up and over the shoulder of Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer.

Only halfway through the first period, a Zoe Boyd crosscheck put Ottawa on the penalty kill against the Sirens’ league-leading special teams. This season, the Sirens are 24.4 per cent on the powerplay.

It didn’t take long for the Sirens to capitalize on the opportunity with a backdoor pass from Jessie Eldridge to Carpenter, who tapped in her team-leading sixth goal of the season to extend the Sirens’ lead to 2-0. 

“We’re going to rely on both our units to kind of give us some momentum on a daily basis, and they’ve been great lately,” Sirens head coach Greg Fargo said. “It’s been awesome.”

After a scoreless second, a third period comeback was not in the books for the Charge, who found themselves on the penalty kill again after Tereza Vanišová was assessed a major penalty for boarding.

The Charge held together but soon found themselves on a 5-on-3 penalty kill after yet another boarding call, resulting in Eldridge’s fourth goal of the year to extend the Sirens’ lead to three. 

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“We haven’t had a lot of penalty luck this year I would say,” MacLeod said. “I think it’s been lopsided in most of our games. But there’s some things that we can control that we need to be better at. We know discipline is a key piece, and special teams in this league matter.” 

The Charge will look to get back in the win column after slipping to fourth place — the final playoff spot — in the standings. Their next opportunity is against the first-place Montréal Victoire on the road on Jan. 29.

Featured photo by PWHL.

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