PWHL Ottawa needs regulation time win against Toronto to make playoffs

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The four month long season will come down to the last six hours for PWHL Ottawa.

Perhaps less.

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A regulation time victory in Toronto on Sunday night — in the finale of the league’s inaugural season — will put Ottawa into the playoffs no matter what else happens.

But Ottawa could also qualify for the post-season tournament with a loss to the first place team.

Here’s the deal:

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Ottawa and Boston are currently tied for the fourth and last berth with 32 points.

Ottawa owns the tiebreaker.

Boston plays in Montreal at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

If Boston wins in regulation time, Ottawa will have to do the same against Toronto in a game that starts at 7 p.m.

If Boston loses in regulation time, Ottawa is automatically in.

Important to remember is that in the PWHL, teams are awarded three points for a regulation time win, two points for an overtime or shootout win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss.

The simple way to look at it — Ottawa just has to pick up as many points as Boston does earlier in the day to make it the PWHL’s version of the final four.

But that’s not the way Ottawa is looking at it.

“It’s a must win game to make the playoffs,” forward Darryl Watts said after Friday’s practice at The Arena at TD Place. “There’s a few different situations that could determine our fate, but for us, it’s a must win game. You just prepare today, tomorrow and leave it all out there on Sunday night.”

Led by the scoring prowess of Natalie Spooner — the runaway leader in the league goal scoring race with 18 goals — Toronto has already clinched first place.

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Interesting, Ottawa has won two of three games in the season series to date — by a convincing 5-1 margin in Toronto on Jan. 13, and a 5-3 final in the nation’s capital on Mar. 23.

The lone loss to Toronto was by a 5-2 score at TD Place on Mar. 2.

“We’re excited that we’re back on the road, heading to Toronto, where we had our first away game, and we played really well,” said Ottawa goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. “We’re excited to be back in that barn, and to take care of business.

“It’s kind of winner take all, so for us, it’s just doing everything we can to be in the moment. We’re going out there to take care of business and get the win. We had a great practice today and I think the vibes are great in the locker room. We’re all coming together at the right time.”

It’s a positive minds for a team that could have wrapped up a playoff spot in road game against last place New York on Tuesday.

Ottawa was up 2-0 after one period before giving up a four unanswered second period goals in a span of eight minutes and 33 seconds and ultimately losing 4-3.

It was just the fourth regulation time win of the season for New York, which also has four OT among its 23 points.

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Watts called that second period a “disaster” for her team.

“I just think sometimes those are the moments of sport,” said coach Carla MacLeod. “They’re a team that plays with a lot of pride as well, and this league is highly competitive. It was a rough eight and a half minutes where we couldn’t quite get our footing under us. You’re trying lots of different things as it’s not only players but as a staff too, and for whatever reason that that moment happened. So that’s, that’s the unfortunate piece, but it’s part of sport.”

Captain Brianne Jenner doesn’t believe the team eased up thinking it had the game won.

“I don’t think it was a mental complacency thing,” she said. “I think we just didn’t execute our game plan. I think we went in there with the right mindset we wanted to clinch that day, and things just started to unravel. I think momentum shifts in hockey games and we weren’t kind of quick enough to to end that shift. But I think the mindset and the way that we kind of dealt with adversity all year has been a strength of our group. We’ve done it together and learn from it. So it’s no different this week.

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“I thought our third (against New York) was much better, we fought back a little bit,” Jennder added. “But yeah, that’s that’s the those challenging moments in sports, right? You kind of feel it start to slip and how quickly can you kind of get things back on track. It’s more adversity and we’re excited to bounce back from it.”

Watts, a 24-year old from Toronto and a big Maple Leafs fan, is ready to embrace the moment in her hometown.

“High pressure games, playoff games, elimination games … in my opinion, they are the most fun games,” said Watts, who with Boston College in 2018 became the first freshman to win the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top female college player in the United States. “I find those games totally different than just your average regular season game because there’s just so much pressure. There’s just a different intensity, which makes it super fun, and I kind of love that environment. So I’m really excited.”

Jenner, whose nine goals ties her with Watts for the Ottawa lamp lighting lead, says the team’s successful past against Toronto is moot

“Honestly, in this league, it’s really what you bring that night,” she said. “I don’t think the path really matters at this point. I think we’re confident in our group and if we execute our game plan, we think we can give ourselves a chance to win, make the playoffs and go from there.”

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Ottawa could end up a unique position Sunday night. If the game is tied with regulation time winding down, MacLeod may have to pull the goalie for an extra attacker in an attempt to pick up three points.

“You have to wait and see what the scenario is,” said MacLeod. “We went to every game trying to win the hockey game. Certainly we’ll understand what we’re required to do and what we need, and we’ll go about it the the right way. But you can’t sit here and play the what if game right now.  You just have to keep getting better. You have to keep preparing. And then you when the puck drops on Sunday, we’ll go do what we need to do.”

ICE CHIPS: Forward Gabby Hughes did not participate in Friday’s practice. Will she be good to go on Sunday? “I suspect so but time will tell,” said MacLeod.

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