After trailing 2-1 to the Toronto Sceptres within the first 40 minutes, the Ottawa Charge surged with two unanswered goals to take their home opener 3-2 on Dec. 3 at TD Place Arena.
Last season, the Charge — formerly PWHL Ottawa — struggled to win at home, doing so only twice in the first two months of their inaugural season. The start to this season looked much different.
Despite struggling through the second period, Ottawa challenged the Sceptres on every puck battle and ultimately outplayed the visitors to welcome fans into the Charge’s second season with a win.
“We were relentless,” Charge head coach Carla MacLeod said. “It’s a tough style to play, but when you can execute it and you can stick to it, it bodes well, it gives you a chance.”
Returning to Canada’s capital was Sceptres forward Daryl Watts. who led the Charge with 10 goals last season. Despite a number of good looks, Watts was held scoreless in her return to Ottawa while she heard pushback from her former fans.
“I had a feeling they were gonna boo me and I understand, I accept it,” Watts said. “But the fans are really passionate, so I think it’s good.”
The Charge pressed to get on the board early as Ottawa forward Alexa Vasko’s saucer pass found rookie forward Mannon McMahon streaking into the Toronto zone.
“I got a nice pass from Vasko and found myself alone with the goalie,” McMahon said.
With a quick wrist shot, McMahon buried the puck between the legs of Toronto goaltender Kristen Campbell for her first career PWHL goal to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
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Another rookie, Charge forward Danielle Serdachny, played hard that first period, using her elite speed and physicality to challenge Toronto players in every puck battle. But her physical play landed her in the box when she ran over Toronto forward Sarah Nurse in front of the Ottawa net with two minutes to go in the first period.
Nurse punished Serdachny and the Charge only six seconds later, redirecting Toronto forward Hannah Miller’s wrist shot off the ensuing faceoff to even the score at one.
With under five minutes to go in the second, Toronto defender Lauren Bernard deflected Nurse’s wrist shot, which leaked out from under Ottawa netminder Emerance Maschmeyer to Toronto’s 2024 first-round draft pick Izzy Daniel, who netted her first PWHL goal.
Nurse’s assist was her third point in two games and is now tied for the league lead in points this season.
Despite putting up 11 shots in the second period, Ottawa struggled the most during the middle frame. It was a similar tune to last season’s struggles, where the Charge put up only 15 second-period goals through 24 games. Compare that to 23 first-period and 25 third-period tallies last season and it becomes a clear point of concern.
Five minutes into their third and strongest period, blueliner Jincy Roese capitalized on the power play. Czech defender Aneta Tejralová dropped the puck to Roese in the slot, whose wrist shot dissolved Toronto’s lead.
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Three minutes later, Charge blueliner Ronja Savolainen forced a turnover in the neutral zone, sending the puck to Czech forward Kateřina Mrázová, who quickly danced around Toronto veteran defender Jocelyne Larocque and into the Sceptres’ zone.
Another slip pass completed a Czech connection to Tereza Vanišová, who cleaned up her second goal in two games, tying Nurse at the top of league scoring.
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Tejralová, Mrázová and Vanišova make up three Czech players on the Charge roster who have found chemistry in the roots of their game.
“The complementary piece between them and myself is I bring a little bit of a North American piece to when we don’t have the puck, a little bit of grit that they’ve embraced,” MacLeod said. “But with the puck, I’m smart enough to just stay out of the way and let them play.”
Ottawa protected their lead through the remainder of the period and Tejralová even threatened to call game on a breakaway but was stopped by the post with only a few minutes remaining.
The Sceptres pressured the Charge to their own zone, but the Ottawa defence held steady in front of Maschmeyer, who earned her first win of the season, stopping 20 of 22 shots against.
“It’s gonna be a long year and there’s gonna be those ups and downs,” MacLeod said. “But at the end of the day, when you’re pushing to win championships and you wanna get yourself to that end mark, being able to defend and be tough to play against is always sort of the pinnacle, that’s what you’re striving towards.”
Looking ahead, the Charge will take on the Montréal Victoire at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The two teams last met in the season opener in Montreal on Nov. 30, where the Victoire narrowly beat the Charge 4-3 in a shootout.
Featured photo by Josh Kim / Ottawa Charge
