Clark scores OT winner as Charge edge Frost 2-1 in final series opener

Ottawa Charge forward Emily Clark (26) celebrates her game winning overtime goal with teammates Mannon McMahon (18) and Gabbie Hughes (17) during overtime action against the Minnesota Frost in the PWHL final, Tuesday May 20, 2025 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

OTTAWA — Emily Clark was just hoping for a shorter overtime.

After experiencing quadruple overtime in her team’s tough semifinal series, the Ottawa Charge forward was keen to put an end to things early.

Clark did just that scoring at 2:47 of overtime Tuesday night to lead the Charge to a 2-1 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Frost in the opening game of the best-of-five Professional Women’s Hockey League Walter Cup final.

“I had an opportunity the shift before with some speed and the puck kind of rolled off my stick and, you know, I was just trying to shake that off,” said Clark. “And I just had in my mind that if I have another opportunity I was just going to try to use my speed and get it to the net. Obviously, happy with the result.”

Game 2 goes Thursday night in Ottawa where the Charge will put their perfect 3-0 home record to the test.

The Frost are now 0-4 in Game 1 of a playoff series all-time, but trailing a series isn’t unfamiliar territory for Minnesota. They lost the first game of their semifinal series to Toronto and came back to win three straight.

“We know it’s gonna be a tight series,” said Frost head coach Ken Klee. “They’re a good team. We know goals are gonna come at a premium and, obviously, they got one more than us tonight.”

After a scoreless first period where both teams seemed to be feeling each other out, Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie gave the home team the lead midway through the second period with her second goal of the playoffs.

The Frost had just generated a couple of point blank chances on the power play, but as the player advantage was expiring the Charge were able to clear the puck with Jocelyne Larocque making a cross-ice pass to Tereza Vanisova who dropped a pass to Leslie.

Nicole Hensley, who stopped 17 shots, couldn’t get a clear view of the shot, partially screened by her teammate Lee Stecklein.

“I think that this league is unbelievably hard to score in, and I think you work all season to try to put yourself in opportunities to score goals,” said Leslie. “And those are some pretty big goals for me, and I think it does help my confidence a little bit.”

It looked like Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips would once again steal the show as the Frost struggled to get anything past her, but a rare miscue early in the third period led to the Frost’s tying goal.

Philips, who stopped 25 shots, mishandled the puck while attempting to play it, turning it over to Katy Knoll. Knoll quickly fed a pass to Klara Hymlarova, who buried the wide-open chance to tie the game 1-1.

“You know, those little missteps are going to happen,” said Charge coach Carla MacLeod. “That’s the reality of sport. That’s the reality of hockey. There’s little mistakes that can occur, but she doesn’t let it faze her, and we know that about her, too.”

The first game was a physical affair and with 6:08 remaining in regulation the Charge were set to go on the power play but officials then reviewed an incident that saw Leslie crosscheck Mellissa Channell-Watkins. It was initially assessed as a major but then downgraded to a minor creating offsetting minors.

“I was definitely freaking out a little bit,” admitted Leslie, as she waited for the call. “I was disappointed, and don’t like to be in those situations. So, just glad it was a minor and we killed it off.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press