For the second game in a row, the Ottawa Charge were stifled offensively, with the Toronto Sceptres doubling them up in goals and nearly in the shot count in their 4-2 victory on Jan. 14 at TD Place.
The Charge were coming off of a slow and painful 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Fleet on Jan. 11, where the teams combined for just 21 shots, lowest total in a PWHL game this season.
“These teams are so even, but we weren’t even tonight with Toronto,” said Charge head coach Carla MacLeod. “They outplayed us, they deserve that win.”
The Sceptres, who have had a disappointing start to the season, dropping three straight ahead of their road game in Ottawa, improved to 3-0-2-5 with the win. However, they still remain last in the PWHL standings.
The Charge got on the board first thanks to a power-play goal by Mannon McMahon, assisted by forward Victoria Bach.
Alongside defender Jocelyn Larocque, Bach was traded from the Sceptres on Dec. 30 for Hayley Scamurra and Savannah Harmon. With her assist on McMahon’s goal, Bach, playing against her former team, has points in three straight games in what was her fourth game since joining the Charge.
“Everyone’s been awesome here,” Bach said. “Super welcoming, and obviously we would have liked the results to have been different today, but I’m really enjoying my time here.”
Meanwhile, Scamurra and Harmon were warmly welcomed back to TD Place as visitors for the first time in their new colours.
“It’s been a smooth transition since I got to Toronto,” Harmon said. “The group and staff, and the organization as a whole has just made it incredibly easy for [me] to come in and just play the game.”
A Sceptres powerplay tied the game with less than eight minutes to go in the first period, with a deflected pass by forward Sarah Nurse to Hannah Miller, who took advantage of a wide-open net for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Just a few minutes later, the Charge found themselves in more penalty trouble with a second hooking call.
In the first frame, the Sceptres put up 14 shots against Charge goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who was forced to make a number of difficult saves to keep the game tied going into the second.
“Nobody’s going out there to not do the job, but we have to find a way to get the job done, and that’s the next step for us,” MacLeod said.
The Charge continued to lean on Maschmeyer early in the second period, as they killed off another penalty four minutes into the period.
The Sceptres didn’t lay off the pressure, forcing a turnover that allowed forward Maggie Connors to walk in and snipe one over the right shoulder of Maschmeyer to give her squad a 2-1 lead.
Just five minutes later, what looked like a normal battle behind the goal line suddenly ended up with the puck behind Sceptres goalie Kristen Campbell, as the puck deflected off the Sceptres’ Renata Fast, off Cambell’s pad and into the back of the net to even the game at two apiece.
The strange goal was credited to Bach, the last Charge player to touch the puck.
Halfway through the final period, a costly turnover by Ronja Savolainen was taken advantage of by Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull, who went from backhand to forehand to push it through Maschmeyer and take a 3-2 lead.
The Charge had a powerplay late in the game, but failed to even the score. To ice the game, forward Emma Maltais added an empty-net goal for the Sceptres to secure the win in the battle of Ontario.
Post-game, McMahon was adamant the Charge have what it takes to put goals on the board — despite their recent offensive struggles.
“I think we have it in the locker room,” McMahon said. “There’s just different pieces that we all kinda need to pull together.
“We just all need to come together at the same time, and we’ll be in a good spot.”
The Charge will bring their fourth place, 4-0-2-4 record on the road on Jan. 19, meeting the Montréal Victoire for the second time this season in Quebec City as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour.
Featured photo by PWHL
