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PWHL

Clark Strikes Again – Charge Take Game 1 in OT

Emily Clark’s OT goal gave Ottawa a 2–1 win over Minnesota and a 1–0 lead in the PWHL Finals.

Clark Strikes Again – Charge Take Game 1 in OT
Ottawa Charge celebrating Emily Clark's game-winning goal. (Photo Credit: PWHL)

The Ottawa Charge are off to a flying start in the PWHL Finals, and Emily Clark is once again the one leading the charge.

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Just 2:47 into overtime, the Ottawa forward buried a short-side shot that sent 6,184 fans at TD Place into a frenzy and secured a 2–1 win over the defending champion Minnesota Frost in Game 1. The goal marked Clark’s second consecutive playoff game-winner and her fourth point of the postseason, no one on Ottawa has more.

It was a hard-fought game that featured everything you’d expect from a championship showdown: goals from homegrown heroes, an electric crowd, some post-whistle nastiness, and a bit of playoff drama.

The breakthrough came halfway through the second period when Rebecca Leslie, who’s been red-hot in the playoffs, struck again. The Ottawa native buried her second in as many games, after scoring just once in 27 regular season outings, off a feed from Tereza Vanišová.

“Those are some pretty big goals for me,” Leslie said. “And I think it does help my confidence a little bit. But the way our team’s been playing has helped my confidence. We’re playing hard, getting pucks deep, and that helps me and my style of play.”

Minnesota answered back early in the third, taking advantage of a rare mistake from Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips. Klára Hymlárová pounced on the turnover and tied the game 1–1, quieting the crowd, but only momentarily.

“She’s just that way,” head coach Carla MacLeod said about Philips bouncing back. “Those little missteps are going to happen. That’s the reality of hockey. But she doesn’t let it faze her and we know that about her too.”

Bounce back she did. Philips finished with 25 saves and once again gave Ottawa a chance to win. Her calm presence has been a pillar throughout the postseason.

“I think Gwyn has been playing unbelievable for us” Leslie said. “She’s just been a brick wall. It’s a long series and stuffs gonna happen, bad passes, bad bounces and thats on all of us to recover.”

Tensions boiled over late in the third, with scrums and post-whistle shoves becoming the norm.

“It’s just a product of where we are in the season,” MacLeod said. “It's hard hockey to play and these players are all digging in.”

What made it all the more electric was the crowd. From puck drop to Clark’s winner, the 6,184 fans at TD Place didn’t sit still once.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the building this loud,” Leslie said. “It’s something we don’t take for granted.”

Clark agreed: “We can't say enough good things about being able to play in front of this community and anytime we have the chance to play at home… they make us feel so special, so loved and it's extra motivation for us to want to win for them”

With the win, Ottawa improves to 4–0 when scoring first in the playoffs and remains perfect at home. Game 2 goes Thursday at 7 p.m. ET back at TD Place, where the Charge will try to carry that momentum one step closer to the Cup.

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