With 59 seconds left in regulation and the Ottawa Charge and Seattle Torrent tied 2-2, the Charge knew their power play had to break the deadlock.
Although Ottawa’s overtime and shootout record is a perfect 5-0 this season, an extra point was at stake.
After a scrambled draw, the puck cycled its way to hometown hero Rebecca Leslie’s stick, who launched a one-timer home for her second of the night, stealing the lead for the Charge with 30 seconds remaining.
“We knew we needed to do our job. When you’re given a chance like that at the end of the game, we just wanted to execute,” Leslie said after the game. “It’s a privilege to be on the ice in those moments at the end of games, on the power play too.”
Fueled by Leslie’s late-game equalizer and go-ahead goal, the Charge completed a 4-2 comeback over the Torrent on Wednesday night at TD Place.
The win improved the Charge’s record to 4-5-0-7 (22 points) and extended their home win streak to four games. Ottawa now trails by only two points of the league’s last playoff spot heading into the month-long Olympic break.
“We knew we wanted to push for a regulation win — we weren’t settling,” Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod said. “[We] were relentless, driving the net hard, making sure we got pucks in there.”
In the opening frame, both teams generated chances, but neither could solve the opposing goaltender, ending the period scoreless. Both teams remained at even strength until the dying seconds of the period, when Ottawa’s Sarah Wozniewicz’s hooking infraction handed the Torrent a power play for the next period.
Early in the second, the Torrent’s powerplay was upgraded to a 5-on-3 early in the second period after forward Peyton Hemp hit Hannah Bilka from behind.
A lengthy review ended with Hemp’s ejection, throwing a curveball into the Charge lineup.
“It was fun, we put [Stephanie Markowski] up there,” MacLeod said, referring to her defender who played forward in Hemp’s place. “I said, ‘Hey Marky, want to play forward?’ She goes, ‘Yep,’ and off she went.”
The Charge almost withstood the onslaught — backed by eight saves from Gwyneth Phillips — but the penalty killing unit finally broke with 21 seconds remaining.
After Phillips denied Bilka a guaranteed goal moments before, Hilary Knight made no mistake on a sprawling Phillips to give the Torrent a 1-0 lead. The goal marked Knight’s 50th career PWHL point, moving her into fifth in league all-time scoring.
Ottawa earned an advantage of their own minutes later, sending their second-ranked power play to work. While they weren’t able to capitalize on the advantage, the Charge created chances but couldn’t find their way around Corinne Schroeder, who finished with 26 saves.
Ottawa remained scoreless after two periods but heated up in the third.
Quickly into the final frame, Kateřina Mrázová collected a fanned pass at the offensive blue and sprung Fanuza Kadirova for the game’s equalizer.
But minutes later, a miscommunication in the neutral zone from Ottawa found former Charge forward Danielle Serdachny and Jessie Eldridge on the rush, where they connected to restore the Torrent’s lead 2-1.
Serdachny, along with fellow former Charge forward Natalie Snodgrass, returned to the nation’s capital for the first time since both signing with Seattle last offseason. Serdachny led the Charge in rookie scoring last season after being selected second overall in the 2024 PWHL Draft.
“Coming back to the place where you played your rookie season, I knew it would be a little bit emotional,” Serdachny said about her return to Ottawa. “It’s nice to be back, nice to see old friends.”
With just over five minutes in regulation, Wozniewicz swatted the puck to herself in the neutral zone, jumpstarting a 3-on-2. Entering the zone with speed, Wozniewicz steered the puck laterally to Brianne Jenner, who found Leslie open on the doorstep.
On her bobblehead night, Jenner collected her 50th career point to tie the game 2-2, joining Knight in fifth all-time scoring.
But Leslie wasn’t done there.
After a Torrent cross-checking penalty sent the Charge’s powerplay unit to work in a crucial moment, Leslie’s second of the night was the dagger for the Charge. From the faceoff dot, Leslie wired a one-timer through Schroeder to put the Charge up 3-2 and complete the comeback.
“I didn’t do my job on the faceoff, but everyone else jumped on it, recovered the puck and then you’re able to move around,” Jenner said about the game’s final minute. “And obviously a great job [by Leslie].
Eighteen seconds later, Emily Clark potted one more to cap off a four-goal third period for the Charge.
“Not sure I needed a goal at the end of the game,” MacLeod joked about the team’s fourth goal. “I was saying, ‘Just run the clock out.’”
The conclusion of Wednesday night’s PWHL action kicked off the Olympic break, where eight Charge players, and their coach Carla MacLeod, will be heading to Milano Cortina for the 2026 Olympic Games.
The lineup includes Finland’s Sanni Ahola and Ronja Savolainen; Czechia’s Aneta Tejralová and coach Carla MacLeod; the United States’ Rory Guilday and Gwyneth Philips; and Canada’s Jocelyne Larocque, Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner.
Heading into the break, MacLeod shared her excitement for both groups of players, both those heading to Milan and those sticking in Ottawa.
“There’s an energy that comes with winning, there’s an excitement to grow and keep pushing,” she said. “It allows the group that’s remaining in Ottawa to be excited about getting better.”
“We’re gonna be grinding here, and we know that our teammates at the Olympics are gonna be grinding for their countries; we need to be ready for them when we get back,” added Leslie, who is staying with the Charge in Ottawa.
A month of practices, off-ice conditioning and strength training is on the horizon for the Charge. They will return to action on Feb. 28 when the Boston Fleet come to town.
Featured image by Josh Kim / Ottawa Charge]
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