If you listen to the Ottawa Charge and New York Sirens, they both known there’s nothing regular about tonight’s regular season meeting between the PWHL teams.
Ottawa currently sits two points out of the final playoff spot. A regulation or overtime win tonight would put them into fourth place. New York sits in a more dire situation eight points out of the final playoff spot, with elimination rapidly approaching. The game could not be bigger for both teams.
“If you look at the standings, there’s nothing regular about this game,” said Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod. “We must recognize that everybody that we are facing is in the same mindset that we’re in. We have to stick together as a team and take it a shift at a time. I really like the direction we are going and where we’re at. It’s not lost on us that every game matters, but here we are, right in the thick of a playoff race.”
Second Straight Meeting Between The Teams
The two teams face-off for the second straight game. In their last meeting on Saturday, Tereza Vanisova scored a hat trick to lead the Ottawa Charge to a 5-2 win.
“Our team has the unique opportunity to play these guys back-to-back in such a short time span,” said New York defender Ella Shelton. “Every game is important from here on out for us. I think this group just needs to commit to doing the little details to set us up for success. Hockey is a game of mistakes and what I want for this group is for us to capitalize on our opportunities, be so sound defensively that they don’t see many. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this last stretch, and we won’t stop working to gain.”
New York needs at least three regulation wins, coupled with losing streaks from both Minnesota and Ottawa to earn a playoff spot. If Ottawa wins tonight in regulation, New York would need to win three games in regulation, and pick up at least a point in their other remaining game to have a chance to make the playoffs. Since Ottawa and Minnesota face each other one final time this season, a regulation win from either team in that game, coupled with a regulation loss by New York tonight, would certainly end their playoff hopes.
