Three Keys Heading Into The Ottawa Charge’s Home Opener

Despite suffering a 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Victoire in their season opener, the Ottawa Charge iced an exciting product headlined by rookies Danielle Serdachny and Ronja Savolainen. They looked like the real deal and earned every minute of their ice time.

Even so, it wasn’t enough to emerge victorious, and so the team has some clearly defined flaws to patch over ahead of their home opener against the Toronto Sceptres tomorrow. Here are three keys to Ottawa’s success against its provincial rival:

Helping out Maschmeyer

Last season, Ottawa allowed the second-most goals against, and that almost certainly had more to do with the defence in front of Emerance Maschmeyer, not her own performance. They had trouble protecting the inside of the ice and that led to some easy goals for opponents.

Some of that continued into the season opener, as the Charge allowed 45 shots against, 30 of which had been fired just halfway through the second frame. Ottawa will be hard-pressed to win games allowing 40-plus shots against, so I’d expect to see some adjustments to tighten up their zone coverage tomorrow.

Also, I'd expect Maschmeyer to be in net once again at TD Place, but it'll be interesting to see when Ottawa gives Gwyneth Philips a shot in the crease. The team plays games on the road against Boston and Minnesota on Dec. 17 and 19, so that could be a good opportunity to rest Maschmeyer and see what they have in their young netminder.

Special teams

Head coach Carla MacLeod made penalty killing an important focus throughout training camp, opting to practice shorthanded scenarios more frequently than 5-on-5 play. That seemed to foreshadow their season opener against the Victoire, as the Charge committed seven infractions and spent significant time on the defensive.

Two power-play goals against was the result, which was all the difference in the eventual shootout loss. It’s a small sample, but Ottawa’s current 71.4 penalty-kill rate will need to improve to break into the PWHL’s upper crust this season.

If you look at the two goals, there’s a similarity between them: Ottawa is doing a great job of boxing out the opposition down low but leaving plenty of room at the top of the circles for one-timer options.

Ottawa will have to pose more of a threat to the point shooters in order to make things easier on Maschmeyer. Especially with the PWHL’s jailbreak rule, there is more incentive to play aggressively on the penalty kill. Look no further than the Sceptres’ Sarah Nurse, who netted a shorthanded tally in their home opener.

That said, the power play got a few looks on Saturday, and it clicked for an important go-ahead goal late in the second period. It was a great seam pass from defender Aneta Tejralova, who found Tereza Vanišová at the Montreal blueline to spring her on a breakaway.

That’s something to build on.

Closing out games in regulation

Again, it’s early, but last campaign’s narrative of overtime nightmares has already crept into the discussion around this team.

Against Montreal, Ottawa held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes and a 3-2 edge after 40, but Jennifer Gardiner’s first PWHL goal halfway through the third period sent the Charge to their eighth overtime game in their franchise’s 25-game history. Overtime brought its chances, but Montreal ultimately had the better looks, highlighted by a Marie-Philip Poulin breakaway in the final seconds that Maschmeyer was forced to stop.

Ottawa has surrendered a lead at some point in four of its eight games that have gone past regulation, including the league’s biggest blown lead of the 2024 season on Feb. 4 against the New York Sirens, who surmounted a three-goal deficit in under two minutes to claim victory in extra time.

“This one stings,” MacLeod said following that Feb. 4 loss. “When you’ve gone into overtime as often as we have and haven’t found success yet, there’s a bit of a hurdle there collectively.”

“That’s a little bit of a mental block,” Ottawa defender Savannah Harmon said. “But I think we’re gonna be fine next time.”

While that hasn’t been the case in the games since, there’s a nugget here: captain Brianne Jenner was out of the lineup on Saturday, and her presence will be a huge boon for Ottawa once she’s healthy again. While her status for the home opener is still uncertain, she has been practicing in a non-contact jersey.