Rebecca Leslie's last-minute game-winner completes late rally, Ottawa Charge stays alive

Ottawa Charge players celebrate after Rebecca Leslie scored the game-winning goal during the third period on Monday night at the Canadian Tire Centre. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Charge 2, Victoire 1

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The Ottawa Charge is alive to fight another day.

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And once again providing the heroics was Rebecca Leslie.

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Her goal with 54.8 seconds remaining capped an inspiring comeback to give the Charge a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Victoire in the first Professional Women’s Hockey League championship game that did not need overtime to decide.

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The win leaves Montreal with a 2-1 series in the best-of-five Walter Cup final.

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Game 4 of the series is set for Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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A PWHL playoff record crowd of 16,894 was on hand at the CTC on Monday to witness the drama.

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Sarah Wozniewicz was key to the winning goal, breaking in down the left side for a chance turned aside by Montreal goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens.

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But Leslie, who scored the only two goals in Ottawa’s 3-2 opening-game loss, found the rebound and fired it past Desbiens’ glove.

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Ottawa trailed 1-0 when rookie Peyton Hemp scored with 5:30 remaining after working herself free to fire home the rebound of a point shot by Ronja Savolainen for her first of the playoffs.

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Former Charge forward Hayley Scamurra broke a scoreless tie with 12:28 left in the third period by being in the right place at the right time.

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Positioned near Gwyneth Philips’ right goal post, Scamurra flipped the puck into the open side after a wide shot by Maureen Murphy rebounded off the end boards.

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But the goal breathed some urgency into the Charge.

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The Charge carried the momentum for the remainder of the period until Leslie sent the crowd into a frenzy.

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The story of the night through the scoreless opening two periods was a golden opportunity missed by the home team early in the second.

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The Charge had a 5-on-3 power play for 90 seconds, but failed to get a single shot on goal.

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Very few good scoring chances were created by either side through the rest of the period.

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The biggest save, arguably, was made by Philips when she put her left shoulder in front of a wrister by Lina Ljungblom from the slot. The rebound popped up without Philips seeing it, but no Montreal player was close to the loose puck.

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Ottawa Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips watches Catherine Dubois from the Montreal Victoire miss the puck during the second period at the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday, May 18, 2026. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Both teams had nine shots on goal in a sloppy first period.

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The Charge held Montreal’s top-ranked power play to a total of four shots with two extra-player advantages that were presented to the visitors when Emma Greco was sent off for tripping at 13:02 and Leslie was called for cross-checking 40 seconds after the first penalty expired.

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Ottawa entered the middle period on the power play after Maureen Murphy was given a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass 6.2 seconds before the intermission.

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Laura Stacey took a hooking penalty 24 seconds into the second, giving Ottawa a glorious chance to break the ice.

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Wozniewicz and Montreal’s Marie Philip-Poulin were the respective team leaders in chances with three shots each when Ottawa held an 18-15 advantage through 40 minutes.

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Ottawa Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips watches Marie-Philip Poulin from the Montreal Victoire shoot the puck during the second period. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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