Charge's Emily Clark: 'No long faces' despite 4OT loss to Victoire
Few could blame the Ottawa Charge for feeling deflated after losing a quadruple-overtime marathon to the Montreal Victoire in Sunday's Game 2, but forward Emily Clark said the vibes were high in the locker room.
"There's no long faces," Clark said after her club's 3-2 defeat. "At some points, you just laugh. It's almost comical. It's just a blast. This is what you grow up watching, dreaming of. ... You love this, this is exactly what we want to do."
The contest set a record for the longest game in PWHL history, surpassing a triple-overtime playoff meeting between the Victoire and Boston Fleet exactly one year prior.
The puck dropped on Sunday's game at 2:08 p.m. ET and didn't end until 7:42 p.m., stretching 5 hours and 34 minutes. Victoire forward Catherine Dubois sent both teams home with the winner in the late stages of the fourth overtime period after over 135 minutes of playoff hockey.
"The initial reaction (when the puck goes in) is, 'Aw, shoot,'" Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque said. "I mean, not ideal, but ... there's so much to be proud of. We never gave up. ... I still feel like we do have momentum."
Montreal held a 2-0 lead entering the third period thanks to goals from Kristin O'Neil and Laura Stacey. Aneta Tejralova halved the deficit for Ottawa before Brianne Jenner scored the equalizer in the frame's final minute.
Victoire goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens made a whopping 63 saves on 65 shots, while Charge netminder Gwyneth Philips was similarly outstanding with a 53-save performance.
"Obviously, it was a long one, it was pretty entertaining," Desbiens said. "A lot of back-and-forth hockey, it was good. You love that for the fans, don't love it for my parents' hearts, though."
Dubois admitted that the memory of her big-time goal is a little fuzzy.
"To be quite honest, I think I blacked out," she said. "I don't remember anything except the girls coming to me and celebrating. I'm just very happy that we won this game. ... It's just fun to win hockey games."
The win was the Victoire's first in the playoffs after being swept last season and dropping Game 1 against the Charge.
Montreal was the top-seeded team in the regular season and picked Ottawa as its playoff opponent in the opening round. Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET at TD Place.
"With a win, it does give us a little bit of momentum," Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie said. "I think that Ottawa came into the playoffs believing in their group, and belief is powerful.
"I think that tonight, we took a little bit of that belief into our room."