With the score tied at two with less than five minutes to go, PWHL Ottawa faced the prospect of entering their fifth overtime game of the season to PWHL New York on Feb. 28.
Overtime is dangerous territory for Ottawa, who have gone winless through four extra-time attempts this season. A loss would’ve buried them even further in the league standings, where they’re currently tied for last place.
But an unlikely hero, Ottawa depth defender Amanda Boulier, picked off an errant pass to set up forward Gabbie Hughes, who netted the eventual game-winner in the 4-2 game.
“We needed that for not only us but our fans,” Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod said post-game.
The PWHL recently announced its playoff format, which will only include the top four teams at the end of the regular season, which currently excludes Ottawa and New York. Ottawa is two points behind fourth-place PWHL Boston, who has a game in hand.
“The league has given us a message that we need to be better, and we’ve taken it personally,” MacLeod said.
Ottawa looked to get revenge for their previous embarrassment against New York, as they challenged backup goaltender Abigail Levy early on.
Early in the second frame, Ottawa continued to dominate.
Forward Akane Shiga was gift-wrapped with an incredible opportunity to double the lead when Levy was caught out of position, revealing an empty net. Shiga got her stick on the puck but narrowly missed the empty frame.
Midway through the period, Ottawa forward Natalie Snodgrass rushed down the ice on a shorthanded 2-on-1 chance, where she passed to linemate Lexie Adzija, who cut across the crease and nearly beat Levy on the backhand.
As Ottawa recovered the puck, forward Fanni Garát-Gasparics positioned herself toward the opposing goal, where she got a shot off and collected her own rebound to earn the jailbreak and her first goal of the season.
“I was mentally prepared. I wanted to score a goal so bad,” Garát-Gasparics said.
The Hungarian forward said she found inspiration from the Ottawa crowd, where some Hungarian fans brought signs and flags to show their support for her.
But just over thirty seconds later, New York answered the call.
In a stroke of bad luck, Ottawa defender Zoe Boyd attempted a hard pass out of her zone when her stick snapped, gifting New York forward Chloe Aurard an easy goal to cut the deficit in half.
The 2-1 score lasted halfway into the third frame when Ottawa defender Jincy Roese was booked by the officials for interference.
On the ensuing power play, New York defender Jaime Bourbonnais beat Ottawa goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer cleanly from the top of the circle to knot the game at two with just over 10 minutes to go.
“We used the TV timeout a little bit as a real timeout,” MacLeod said.
With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Boulier called New York’s bluff by picking off the turnover and setting Hughes up for the winner.
“I just acted on what my instincts were telling me to do and ended up scoring,” Hughes said.
New York maintained pressure in the final minutes, but Maschmeyer’s heroics, combined with defender Ashton Bell’s crucial block to save a sure goal in the dying seconds, helped seal the win.
Adzija buried an empty-net goal with three seconds remaining to finalize the much-needed points in front of the crowd of 6,889 fans.
After a 5-2 loss to PWHL Toronto on March 2 that left them in last place, Ottawa will now take on PWHL Minnesota on the road on March 5.
Featured image by Andrea Cardin/Freestyle Photography/PWHL.
