Ottawa Charge give up tying goal with three seconds left before losing Game 1 of PWHL final in OT

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The goal did shake some life into the Victoire, as the home team bounced back hard looking for the equalizer. But a couple of nice stops by Philips and Stacey’s inability to jam the puck through a gap between the goalie’s skate and her left post allowed Ottawa to take the lead into the third period.

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Special teams victory

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If, as the saying goes, defence does win championships, that must include impenetrable penalty killing.

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The Charge had the latter on Thursday night.

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Facing the best power play in the playoffs and the second-best during the regular season, Ottawa was perfect on the three kills, including a 5-on-3 for 1:12 early in the third period.

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It looked like the Charge PK would be the story of the game until Roque relayed a nice pass from Nadia Mattivi to the top of the Ottawa net with 7:48 left in the third to tie the game.

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The goal marked the eighth straight game Roque has picked up a point against the Charge.

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Fresh legs

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How important was last Sunday’s series-clinching win for Ottawa?

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Ending the first-round showdown with the Boston Fleet in four games rather than having to travel to Lowell, Mass., for a Game 5 on Tuesday gave the Charge an extra two days’ rest before the final than the Victoire, who had to battle it out with the Minnesota Frost in a semifinal that went the distance.

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With fresher legs on Thursday, the Charge outshot Montreal 10-5 in the first period and had the best scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes.

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But Desbiens bailed her team out, shutting the door on Brianne Jenner’s attempt to go five-hole with a clear breakaway in the 12th minute, turning aside golden opportunities for Michela Cava and Emily Clark after they were set up by the forechecking of their linemate, Fanuza Kadirova, a few minutes later, then stopping Kadirova on another in-alone chance with less than a minute to go until the intermission.

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Alas, the score remained knotted at 0-0, and Ottawa missed out on its only chance of the series with fresher legs.

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Getting younger with age

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If she suits up again next season, and performance-wise there’s certainly no reason she shouldn’t, it looks like Jocelyn Larocque will lose her title as the oldest player in the PWHL.

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With Vegas being announced on Thursday as the latest expansion team to join Hamilton and Detroit, with another expected to still be added, it looks like there will be as many as 100 new jobs created. As such, it’s probably no coincidence that three-time Olympian Meghan Agosta has decided she is coming out of retirement.

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Her Wikipedia page shows that Agosta, a 39-year-old Vancouver Police officer, hasn’t played for a league team in 2012-13 with the Montreal Stars of the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Her last competitive play was with Team Canada at the 2018 Games in South Korea.

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Larocque, who turns 38 next Tuesday, appears to be getting younger with age.

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Recognized as a solid defender and leader, she has added offence to her contributions of late. Entering Thursday, she had two goals and four assists in her last seven games, including four points in the elimination of the Fleet.

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Larocque also once again led all Charge players in ice time this season, averaging 22:43 per game.

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