Charging Back: Ottawa Evens the Series with Grit and Goaltending at the Tsongas

Saturday night at the Tsongas Center, a crowd of 6,012 gathered for Game 2 of the PWHL semifinals between the Ottawa Charge and the Boston Fleet.

Before the game, the Fleet made several roster moves. Forward Loren Gabel was activated back onto the roster but remained a healthy scratch for Saturday’s contest. Meanwhile, Rylind McKinnon served a one-game suspension stemming from a major penalty for a hit to the head and a game misconduct in Game 1. The starting goaltenders remained the same as the series opener: Gwyneth Phillips for Ottawa and Aerin Frankel for Boston.

Despite the Fleet generating strong early momentum—including a breakaway by Jessie Eldridge and follow-up chances from Abby Newhook and Daniela Pejšová—it was the Charge who struck first, repeating their Game 1 performance. At 13:16 of the opening frame, Ronja Savolainen fired a wrist shot from the left point that beat Frankel over the blocker-side shoulder. The goal, Savolainen’s first of the series, was assisted by Rory Guilday and Taylor House. Down a goal, the Fleet did not retreat; as the period drew to a close, they peppered Phillips with quality chances, but she handled close-range efforts from Eldridge and Newhook with ease. The first period ended 1–0 in favor of Ottawa, though shots were 14–8 for Boston.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Ottawa extended their lead to 2–0. Fanuza Kadirova, positioned at the bottom of the right faceoff circle, took a bouncing pass from Rebecca Leslie and fired a shot that deflected off Frankel’s stick and into the net at 1:54. Jocelyne Larocque also assisted on the play, giving the Charge their first two-goal lead of the series.

With 3:31 left in the second, both teams had failed to cash in on power play opportunities. Ottawa went 0-for-3 on the night (moving to 1-for-6 for the series), while Boston went 0-for-2 (0-for-5 over the two games). The Fleet’s pressure intensified in the final five minutes of the period, with Phillips coming up big on shots from Alina Müller, Newhook, and Jill Saulnier.

However, with less than ten seconds remaining in the period, Boston finally broke through. Müller crossed the blue line on the right side and sent a pass that deflected into the high left slot. Megan Keller took care of the rest, ripping the puck past Phillips at 19:50 to get Boston back in the game. It was Keller’s first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Müller and Newhook. The second period ended with Ottawa up 2–1; shots in the frame were 9–8 for the Charge, bringing the two-period total to 22–17 in favor of Boston.