Can Ottawa Charge force another disappointing Mother’s Day weekend for Montreal Victoire?

Shiann Darkangelo, second from right, celebrates with Charge teammates after scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the third period against the Victoire in Laval, Que., on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Photo by Christinne Muschi /The Canadian PressArticle content

The Ottawa Charge has a chance to break some hearts at Place Bell in Laval for the second May 11th in a row.

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One year ago to the day, the home crowd sat through the longest game in PWHL history only to see Montreal get pushed to the brink of elimination by Boston in a 2-1 triple-overtime defeat.

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Boston, which had also won Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff by a 2-1 overtime final two nights earlier, swept the series with a 3-2 OT victory at Tsongas Center on May 14.

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That outcome was an upset after Montreal finished the regular season in second place with 41 points, while Boston finished third with 35.

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The Charge will try to help history repeat itself Sunday at 2 p.m. after taking Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff showdown with the Victoire by a 3-2 score in Laval on Thursday.

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A victory would put Ottawa in a position to be the second third-place team to oust Montreal — which this season finished in first, eight points ahead of the Charge — when the series moves two hours down Highway 417 to TD Place for Game 3 on Tuesday.

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Here are five things to watch for in Game 2.

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‘TENDING THE TWINE

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With all due respect to 15-goal scorer Tereza Vanisova, the Charge’s most valuable player this season has to be Gwyneth Philips.

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When star goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer went down with a lower-body injury in March, the duties were handed to Philips, a 24-year-old from Athens, Ohio, who had three full games of PWHL experience when thrown into the fire.

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Philips finished the season with an 8-5-1 record, 2.11 goals against average and .919 save percentage, leading the Charge to a playoff spot by playing the final eight games and allowing more than two goals just twice in that span.

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In her playoff debut on Thursday, she was the star of the game with 31 saves, while Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, who doubles as the Canadian national team’s No. 1 goalie, stopped 24 shots.

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Philips, a backup for Team USA, has now beaten Desbiens the last four times they have faced each other, including a Rivalry Series contest and a playoff game.

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The Victoire will be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Philips on Sunday in an attempt to even the series. For the Charge to prevail, its rookie goalie will once again have to come up large.

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Gwyneth Philips (33) has carried the load in net for the Charge since an injury to Emerance Maschmeyer, and she was star of the game against Montreal on Thursday night. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /The Canadian PressArticle content

FIVE-ON-FIVE PLAY

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In losing all four of its playoff games to date, Montreal has scored a grand total of one even-strength goal.