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Larocque mentioned there were a “lot of good things” the Charge could take from Game 2’s disappointing outcome.
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“Similar to our (four-) OT loss in Montreal, there were a lot of positives,” she said, referring to the opening-round Mustard Marathon loss to the Victoire, which was also Game 2 in the first round. “And look at how we responded in the next game. I do not see it being different here.”
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It was more than just the next game.
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Rather than looking drained both physically and mentally after allowing a 1-0 series lead to evaporate in a 5 1/2-hour slugfest against an opponent that had finished nine points higher in the regular-season standings, the Charge bounced back with vigor.
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Ottawa rattled off three successive wins while putting the heartbreak delivered by Montreal’s Catherine Dubois in the rear-view mirror, giving up just four goals in the equivalent of 13 periods since.
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Coincidence?
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“I don’t know. I think we’ve been playing some pretty good hockey for a good chunk of time now, even before that overtime loss,” Charge centre Gabbie Hughes said via Zoom call after the team arrived in Minnesota on Friday. “We just kind of just put that one on the shelf as a loss. I think we played really well in that game. We stuck it out, and we really fought until the end. So I think we’re just taking that with us in every game, no matter what. We know how bad we want it.”
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Charge head coach Carla MacLeod harkened back to Jenner’s goal with 42 seconds left in the third that turned Game 2 against the Victoire into a doubleheader and then some, calling it a “resiliency component” the Charge had built on.
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“I think it was just a confidence moment for us in the playoffs, recognizing that, when we played to our strengths and stayed true to what we know is working for us, great things can happen,” MacLeod said. “In this world, again, you don’t know who’s going to win or lose, but you can only control how you play. And we liked that game. I think it infused some confidence in our group that we could do something fun in these playoffs.”
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Britta Curl-Salemme, far left, celebrates with Frost teammates after scoring the winning goal against the Charge in overtime of Game 2 on Thursday night. Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle content
Notwithstanding Curl-Salemme, who won’t have any booing to hush in the next two games, the Charge is doing some great things defensively in front of netminder Gwyneth Philips. Minnesota’s big line of Kendall Coyne Schofield, Michela Cava and Taylor Heise has been held off the scoresheet. Heise, the league’s leading scorer after Round 1 with seven points in four games, has been held to two shots, including none in almost four periods of Game 2
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Offensively, the Charge is being led by Emily Clark, who had a game-high six shots on Thursday, and Rebecca Leslie, who has turned into a buzzsaw after what had been a quiet regular season.
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But more is needed from the attack overall, and therein could lie the problem.
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After getting her crease back, Minnesota netminder Maddie Rooney made 37 saves in Game 2.
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She could be just picking up some steam.
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