How can the Ottawa Charge bounce back from Game 1 heartbreaker in PWHL final?

Montreal Victoire's Nicole Gosling (61) scores against the Ottawa Charge in the dying seconds of the third period in Game 1 of the Professional Women's Hockey League Walter Cup final in Laval on May 14. Photo by Evan Buhler /Postmedia

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In the final three seconds of Thursday night’s hockey game at Place Bell, hope quickly turned to heartbreak for the Ottawa Charge.

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After the Montreal Victoire tied the game at 2-2, then found the back of the net again in overtime, the Charge endured a moment of utter disbelief.

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Especially because Ottawa did almost everything right in Game 1 of the best-of-five Walter Cup final — until those final moments.

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Those are the kinds of losses that are difficult to recover from.

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“Obviously, we didn’t get the outcome. We were pretty darn close there, but Montreal gave a good push,” Charge head coach Carla MacLeod told reporters on Thursday night.

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“But, really, so many elements of our game we just executed incredibly well. You’ve got to like how we’re going.”

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And it was true: The Charge looked like the better team on the ice for much of the night. But hockey can be cruel sometimes.

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Now the focus shifts to how Ottawa can bounce back. With a devastating Game 1 behind them, can the Charge find a way to even the PWHL final at 1-1 on Saturday afternoon?

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For MacLeod, success comes down to the little details that have carried the team this far. And, with up to four games still left to play, this series remains far from over.

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“We’re going to go back and stay true to what we’ve been doing,” MacLeod said. “It’s a five-game series, it’s not a one-and-done. I think, for us, we’ve been building all week, and I think we put a lot of that on display here.”

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With that in mind, here are four things the Charge can do on the ice in Game 2 to recover from the Game 1 heartbreak.

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Continue to shoot

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For the first time in this entire postseason, Ottawa controlled the shot count for most of the game. It was a sharp contrast from the four-game semifinal against the Boston Fleet, where the Charge was outshot by 10 or more in every single contest.

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Montreal has proven to be one of the league’s best shot-blocking teams. For nearly every puck Ottawa managed to get on net, the Victoire blocked several more attempts before they reached the goaltender.

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That means Ottawa not only needs to maintain its shoot-first mentality, but also to release pucks quicker before Montreal skaters can get in front of them.

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It was rather refreshing to see Ottawa generate more shots in Game 1. The Victoire has one of the PWHL’s best goaltenders, Ann-Renée Desbiens, so consistently putting pucks on net becomes even more important.

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Fourth-line grit

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It may not have shown up on the score sheet on Thursday, but Ottawa’s fourth line was arguably at its most effective in Game 1.

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Taylor House managed to finish her check on every play and led the team with three hits. Peyton Hemp went hard into the corners. Brooke McQuigge was incredibly effective at moving the puck through the neutral zone.