Ottawa Charge selected by Montreal as first-round opponent in PWHL playoffs

Maybe the Senators are out of the playoffs, but the Ottawa Charge are now in for the first time in the team’s history.

Kateřina Mrázová scored 2:52 into overtime to lift Ottawa to a 2-1 regular-season finale win over the Toronto Sceptres and a playoff berth Saturday.

Last season, the Charge needed a regulation win to clinch a playoff spot but fell 5-2 to Toronto in their regular-season finale.

The Montreal Victoire will face the Ottawa Charge in the opening round of the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoffs. The regular-season PWHL champion has the option of selecting either the third seed or the fourth seed to face in a best-of-five first-round series.

Montreal general manager Danièle Sauvageau announced the selection of Ottawa as its first opponent on Sunday on the league’s “Jocks in Jills” podcast. 

“We’ve been preparing for this all year should we be in this position,” Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie said on a conference call Sunday, without giving away too much of what went into the process of selecting the third-seeded Charge.

Ottawa finished ahead of fourth-place Minnesota through a tiebreaker after the Charge, Frost and Boston Fleet finished the season tied at 44 points.

Game 1 of the Charge-Victoire series goes Thursday at Place Bell.

Cheverie said the team made the decision on its opponent Sunday.

“We took all the time we could as an organization to make sure we had all the information that we wanted to have,” she said.

The Victoire’s decision means the second-seeded Toronto Sceptres will face the Frost in the first round for the second straight year, with Game 1 on Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

The Charge, who are in the playoffs for the first time, won their last two regular-season games against the Victoire after losing the first four.

In the inaugural 2024 season, the regular-season-champion Sceptres elected to face the fourth-seeded Frost in the first round. Minnesota went on to upset Toronto before defeating the Fleet in the final to claim the first Walter Cup. 

Boston swept the second-seeded Victoire in the first round in 2024. Cheverie said the three games were among the best her team played despite the result.

“We can talk about last year all we want, it was a lesson for all of us,” Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin said. 

“Series are hard,” she added. “That was hard last year, it will be harder this year, so it’s up to us to be ready.”