Why officials owe the Ottawa Charge a big one after Game 2 of the PWHL final

Catherine Dubois (28) of the Victoire looks for a rebound against Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips (33) during the first period of Saturday's game at Laval, Que. Photo by Evan Buhler /Postmedia

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Kaitlin Willoughby has no goals, no assists and no penalty minutes in the Montreal Victoire’s seven postseason games this spring.

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And, yet, at this moment in time she deserves some consideration as playoff MVP.

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OK, there’s probably a better chance the PWHL will stop dragging its heels in the expansion process and just add 12 more teams next year.

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The point is this: The Victoire is one win from capturing the Walter Cup thanks to the subtle contributions of Willioughby on Saturday afternoon.

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Had she not gotten away with pulling the skates from under Ottawa Charge defender Emma Greco in the 14th minute of overtime, Maggie Flaherty wouldn’t have been left all alone in front of the net to fire the winner past Gwyenth Philips.

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And Game 2 of the final might still be going on or at least gone four OTs, like the second game of the Ottawa-Montreal first-round playoff showdown last year.

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This is not to cast shade on Willoughby, the former Toronto Sceptres forward who, in her first season with the Victoire, had three goals and three assists in 29 games.

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It’s not to suggest she’s a sneaky, dirty player, either.

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In 95 career PWHL games, regular season and playoffs combined, she has a total of SIX penalty minutes.

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Maybe she’s just good at not getting caught?

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Either way, this is more about the officiating.

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C’mon, it needs to be better than that.

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Especially in a championship series.

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Especially in such a pivotal game.

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Especially at such an important point.

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When the refs saw Greco fall to the ice and slide out of position towards the side boards, did they think she suddenly forgot how to skate?

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Did they not get even a little suspicious?

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It would be one thing if the incident occurred behind the play, but Jon Rahm could have closed one eye and dropped a putt that was the distance between Greco and the puck.

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It happened right there in front of them.

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Anyway, players and coaches from both teams were probably talking post-game about how this series was a long way from being over yet, and that was easy to imagine.

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The Charge, trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five set, could have almost double the number of supporters as the crowd (9,232) that showed up at Place Bell on Saturday when the two teams line up for Monday’s Game 3 at Canadian Tire Centre.

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And, with another overtime being a distinct possibility (that’s six PWHL final games in a row that have extended beyond 60 minutes), maybe, just maybe, the officials will realize they owe the Charge a big one.

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Lina Ljungblom (25) of the Victoire deflects a shot attempt by the Charge’s Michela Cava (86) during the second period of Game 2. Photo by Evan Buhler /Postmedia

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What should help the Charge in Game 3?

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Having the last line change as the home team.

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At Place Bell, head coach Carla MacLeod wasn’t able to get her best shut-down unit on against the Victoire’s big guns, and as a result Marie Philip-Poulin and Laura Stacey were able to combine for 14 shots in the first two games.