Larocque: Game 2 OT loss 'doesn't break our confidence'

Ottawa Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque's confidence isn't wavering after a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss in Thursday's Game 2 of the PWHL Finals against the Minnesota Frost.

"It's disappointing, but it doesn't break our confidence," Larocque said. "We're a confident group. We know that when we take away the other team's time and space, when we're physical, when we put pucks on net, when we let the puck do the work, that we're a great team. So, we know that, and we just know that we need to bring that even up a notch. And we have confidence that we will."

Larocque broke the 0-0 deadlock with 2:35 remaining in the third period, but Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme tied the game with 16 seconds left. Curl-Salemme then tallied the overtime winner to even the series at 1-1.

The Charge dropped Game 2 of the semifinals in quadruple overtime, but rebounded with back-to-back wins over the No. 1-seeded Montreal Victoire to advance to the final. Larocque sees parallels to that series.

"Similar to our OT loss in Montreal, there were a lot of positives there, and then look at how we responded in the next game," Larocque said. "I do not see it being different here."

Ottawa outshot Minnesota 38-24 and had limited the Frost to only nine shots on goal through 40 minutes. Charge captain Brianne Jenner believes her team was better in Game 2 than in Game 1, when Ottawa won 2-1 in overtime.

"Overall, this was a much better game for us than our first game," Jenner said. "And we can take a lot of confidence from the way we played. We got back to our style tonight. We know it's going to be a hard-fought series. We knew that coming into it. We would've liked to close this one out for sure, but we'll learn from it. We're right in the battle, and we're having fun."

Game 3 of the best-of-five series goes Saturday in Minnesota.