After collapse against New York, Ottawa Charge face must-win game Saturday

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 5:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

After her squad blew a 3-0 pb successful the 3rd play connected Tuesday, yielding six unanswered goals, Ottawa Charge caput manager Carla MacLeod couldn't explicate to reporters what had happened to her team.

The Charge had a invaluable 3 points wrong their grasp, lone to spot them gaffe distant connected location crystal astatine the hands of a hungry, last-place New York Sirens team.

"A beauteous good, coagulated 2 periods evidently gave [us] an accidental to triumph a hockey game, an important hockey game," MacLeod said aft Tuesday's game, flanked by skipper Brianne Jenner and Ottawa autochthonal Rebecca Leslie. "To spot it transpire the mode that it did successful the third, it's hard to articulate. I don't person the answers."

It's near Ottawa connected the extracurricular of the playoff representation looking in, facing a must-win crippled against Boston successful St. Louis connected Saturday. You tin ticker the crippled connected CBC Sports' platforms, including CBC Gem, opening astatine 2 p.m. ET.

At involvement is the imaginable of a 2nd consecutive twelvemonth retired of the post-season.

It's an thought Ottawa wide manager Mike Hirshfeld doesn't privation to accept, and a value helium said helium wears connected behalf of Ottawa's rabid fanbase each day.

Hirshfeld has seen galore radical speech astir his squad similar it has already been eliminated from the playoff contention aft Tuesday's loss. But helium remains assured successful them.

"It was 3 points we could person used, but we're close successful this thing," Hirshfeld said successful an interrogation with CBC Sports from St. Louis. "We person a crippled successful manus [on Minnesota] and we're lone 2 points down. We're trying to support it successful position and we cognize that we person it successful our ain hands."

'A confluence of atrocious luck, atrocious decisions'

Tuesday's illness began with a tipped puck a small much than a infinitesimal into the 3rd period.

Things got worse erstwhile the Charge took 3 back-to-back penalties, 2 of which led to power-play goals for the Sirens.

Jade Downie-Landry and Sarah Fillier scored a small much than a infinitesimal isolated to propulsion the Sirens ahead. Ottawa had a accidental to ascent backmost with a powerfulness play precocious successful the third, but couldn't bash it. An empty-netter from New York's Alex Carpenter sealed it.

Jenner told reporters the team's cognition was to propulsion back, but atrocious habits caught up to them.

"It was a confluence of atrocious luck, atrocious decisions, immoderate mediocre play astatine the implicit incorrect time," Hirshfeld said. "We cognize that we're amended than that."

WATCH | Sirens people 6 times successful 3rd play to decision Charge:

The squad cancelled a planned time disconnected connected Wednesday. Instead, the players were connected the crystal for what the wide manager described arsenic a "really hard practice."

The extremity was not to fto the nonaccomplishment linger, and to rapidly determination past it.

"We challenged our players to vie and I deliberation they stepped up," Hirshfeld said. "We've had immoderate discussions internally astir it, astir what we tin bash successful the clubhouse, connected the bench, astir however we tin enactment each different successful those hard moments of adversity."

The archetypal situation for Ottawa is to enactment retired of the punishment box. The squad has been short-handed much than immoderate different successful the league, and goes into Saturday's crippled with the worst penalty-killing percent (76.1 per cent).

At times, Tereza Vanišová has provided Ottawa with a spark, whether it's from her infamous combat against Boston's Jill Saulnier earlier this play oregon by her quality to find the net. Vanišová leads the squad successful some points (18) and goals (13).

She's been "hugely important" and the subordinate that the squad expected to get erstwhile they acquired her from Montreal astatine past year's commercialized deadline, Hirshfeld said.

But Vanišová besides has much punishment minutes than immoderate different subordinate successful the league. Her astir caller infraction was a holding telephone successful the midst of Ottawa's illness successful the 3rd play connected Tuesday.

"That's portion of her crippled but it can't beryllium astatine the level she is doing it currently," the GM said. "We privation her to beryllium competitive. We privation her to beryllium tough. We request her to beryllium smarter successful definite situations."

Slim margins

The squad is surely missing apical centre Kateřina Mrázová, who's connected the semipermanent injured reserve. Meanwhile, 2024 second-overall prime Danielle Serdachny has been pointless passim March, and started Tuesday's crippled centering the 3rd line. 

Ottawa besides goes into a important agelong without its starting goaltender, Emerance Maschmeyer. She sustained an wounded earlier this period that volition spot her miss the satellite title successful April, on with immoderate important games for the Charge.

"We're hopeful that some of them person an accidental to play successful the past 3 games and hopefully assistance america successful the playoffs if we get there," Hirshfeld said.

Maschmeyer's wounded has pushed goaltender Gwyneth Philips into the starter's relation aft a coagulated rookie season. She was successful net for 5 tallies against New York on Tuesday. But Hirshfeld stressed the blasted for the mislaid crippled can't beryllium placed connected Philips, who kept the squad successful it passim the archetypal 2 periods.

WATCH | Mic'd Up with Sirens defender Jaime Bourbonnais:

Last season, Ottawa's playoff hopes came down to the last days of the regular season. Only 3 points separated Ottawa from third-place Boston and fourth-place Minnesota. Both those teams went connected to vie successful the Walter Cup final.

It's a motion of the parity successful this six-team league, wherever 1 atrocious play tin beryllium the quality betwixt being successful oregon out. And if you're in, anyone has a shot.

Ottawa's absorption is getting in, and that starts with Saturday's crippled successful St. Louis, The last Takeover Tour crippled connected the league's docket volition beryllium a homecoming for Ottawa adjunct skipper Jincy Roese, who's from O'Fallon, Mo.

"We power our ain destiny," the GM said.