In their final PWHL game before the international break, the Ottawa Charge delivered a dominant 4-0 shutout victory over the Boston Fleet, moving them back into fourth place in the standings. The win marks Ottawa’s second consecutive win over Boston, following their dramatic 2-1 late game comeback in St. Louis on March 29th. Shiann Darkangelo led the charge with her first career PWHL hat trick, while Gwyneth Philips turned in a stellar performance, stopping all 17 shots for her second career PWHL shutout.
“It’s kind of exciting to happen when I’ve been traded from here and to do it in the same building I used to play in,” Darkangelo said of her milestone performance. “But it was a great three points and a great team win. It’s huge going into the international break. It’s exactly what we needed.”
Special teams were once again a difference-maker for Ottawa. Their penalty kill held Boston scoreless for the second straight game (0-for-8 combined) and shut down all three of Boston’s opportunities on the night—including a three-minute stretch late in the game following Zoe Boyd’s game misconduct and five-minute major for an illegal check to the head of Alina Müller.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s power play continued its steady improvement, converting twice in their last four chances. They capitalized early in this one, going 1-for-2 on the night, with their lone power-play goal opening the scoring just 45 seconds into the first period.
An area of concern for Ottawa this season has been their ability to string together a full 60-minute effort. Despite some minor speed bumps, this was another game where they managed to do just that. The entire team committed to playing on the defensive side of the puck, with strong backchecks from the likes of Alexa Vasko, Tereza Vanišová, and Anna Meixner helping to prevent Boston from getting set up in the offensive zone and swing momentum in their favour.
“There were some ebbs and flows for sure tonight,” Philips said. “But I think that Aneta Tejralová had three blocked shots in the slot, so the team did a lot to make my life as easy as possible. And then Shiann got a hat trick, so that made my life a lot easier, too.”
One area Ottawa will want to focus on during the international break is cleaning up their zone exits after winning face-offs. Despite dominating the dot with 28 wins in 38 draws, they still allowed Boston to generate chances off those lost face-offs. While their defensive commitment helped minimize the damage, tightening up their breakout will be crucial—especially with a playoff berth on the line.
“We have three games left, we have to be better,” Boston Fleet head coach Courtney Kessel said. “Took our foot off the pedal here thinking we’re in the playoffs and we’re not. Now it’s a race. Last year was a dark hole that we climbed out of. It’s different, you know, we are still sitting in third place. Have we performed the last three games? No, we’re not where we want to be, but sometimes when you lose before you head into playoffs, it can be a good thing, but we still need to get there.”
Following the international break, Ottawa will have three crucial games, starting with Montreal on April 26th, followed by matchups against Minnesota and Toronto. With the standings as tight as they are, Ottawa’s season could very well come down to the final day of the regular season.
