KANATA, ON– With 29 seconds left in the third period, the Ottawa Charge pulled ahead 2-1 and secured a second straight win over the Boston Fleet in front of a PWHL playoff record crowd of 13,112 fans at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday night. Ronja Savolainen was credited with the game winner on an unusual play, taking a shot that went wide of the net but bounced off the boards and deflected off Aerin Frankel who tried to cover the puck in the crease.
Gwyneth Philips continued to shine between the pipes for the Charge, stopping 36 of 37 shots to earn the win. The Charge now have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series, one win away from reaching the finals in consecutive seasons. Boston faces an early exit for the first time, previously reaching the finals in their 2024 postseason campaign. Fanuza Kadirova scored first at 13:33 of the first period when she launched a wrist shot down the middle lane, capitalizing just seconds after a power play. Just over five minutes into the second period, Liz Schepers tied the game for the Fleet when she found the back of the net, putting away the rebounded puck on the rush from a Shay Maloney shot on goal. The third period remained an even, scoreless affair through 19 and a half minutes before Ottawa iced the game. Frankel turned away 20 of 22 in the loss. The teams will play Game 4 of the series on Sunday afternoon.
QUOTES
Charge defender Ronja Savolainen on the lively bounce from the boards to score the game-winning goal: “I knew the boards gave big rebounds here. We practiced with the goalie coach at one practice because he used to coach in this venue. We were shooting into the boards to see how they bounced. So, I kind of knew that it was going to bounce, but I didn’t know it would bounce that way. It was a lucky bounce.”
Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie on the Charge’s first win at Canadian Tire Centre on her 30th birthday: “It’s really special. The best birthday gift I could have gotten today was that win. It’s a really big team win. I’m really happy with the end result. We know we can be a lot better than that. But I think it’s playoff hockey and when you get a goal like that at the end, you just take it and run with it.”
Boston Head Coach Kris Sparre on the Fleet going down 1-0 early in all three playoff games: “Yeah, I mean, that’s something we’d certainly like to change. It’s never fun playing from behind, but we have to score more than one. Getting 37 shots in a game and multiple chances in front of the net… we have to find a way to put the puck over the line.”
Fleet forward Liz Schepers on this playoff series feeling similar to last year for her: “The series feels very similar to me. To be honest, I kind of anticipated that. They play their style, they’ve got great goaltending and they’re going to hang around and get their chances. They’re very opportunistic so nothing to be surprised about there. I think my role is just to continue to reassure our girls that we’re doing the right things. As [Kris] Sparre is saying, we can’t do much else besides put a couple more pucks in the net. We have to find that in Game 4 and then it’s all in on Game 5. Right now, we have to stay present, flush this one, and find that next level for Game 4.”
NOTABLES
Tonight’s attendance of 13,112 set a new PWHL playoff record, surpassing the crowd of 13,104 at Grand Casino Arena on May 26, 2024, for Game 4 of the inaugural PWHL Walter Cup Finals between Minnesota and Boston.
Ottawa won for the first time in three games at Canadian Tire Centre, previously losing twice to Montréal, 2-1 on Dec. 6, 2024, and 3-0 on Apr. 3, 2026.
In PWHL playoff history prior to 2026, the team that wins Game 3 of a series tied 1-1 has gone on to win all four series. Last season, Ottawa defeated Montréal, 1-0 in Game 3 of the semifinals before winning Game 4 by a 2-1 score, both at TD Place. Then, after splitting the first two games of the finals with Minnesota, the Frost went on to win the next two games. In the inaugural season finals, Boston fell to Minnesota in Game 3 before ultimately losing in five games.
Six of the seven head-to-head games this season have been decided by one goal, but all three playoff games have been decided in regulation after all four games in the regular-season series required overtime.
Ottawa has limited its opposition to one or fewer goals in six of their last seven games.
Before tonight, Boston had been limited to one goal in only two true road games all season but won both of those contests, including a 2-1 shootout victory in Seattle on Jan. 18 and a 1-0 regulation win in New York on Mar. 5.
Despite leading the league with 23 game-opening goals during the regular season, Boston has yet to score first in the series. Ottawa now has 17 games with the first goal across the entire season after opening scoring in all three games of the semifinal series. The Fleet have now allowed their opponent to score first in 10 games this season, still good for the fewest times in the league.
Ahead of tonight, Boston (4-2) had twice as many wins in six games as Ottawa (2-3) had in five games where they were tied with their opponent after two periods.
Over the three games of the series, the Fleet outshot the Charge 96-61, including 37-22 tonight. Boston is now 11-8 when outshooting their opponent and Ottawa is 13-6 when outshot. This is the only time in PWHL playoff history that a team has had three straight games with a double-digit shot on goal differential.
Ronja Savolainen added one goal and an assist for points in consecutive games, following her game-opening goal last Saturday. Her three points in three games have tripled her production in Ottawa’s 2025 playoff campaign (1A). The Finnish defender recorded her first multi-point performance of the season for 13 overall points (6G, 7A), one more than her combined output from the 2024-25 season (2G, 10A).
Fanuza Kadirova recorded her third multi-point game of the season (1G, 1A). She also has goals in back-to-back games, after scoring the Game 2 winner, for her first goal streak since Jan. 24-28. The Russian forward became just the ninth player to score 12 goals across the regular season and playoffs, the most among first-year PWHL players.
Gwyneth Philips’ 36-save performance marked her 13th game with at least 30 saves this season—the most in a single PWHL season—and her second-straight in the semifinal series. Boston’s 37 shots on goal were the most Philips has faced in a playoff game decided in regulation. The 2025 Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP’s 1.34 goals-against average and .958 save percentage are best among playoff goaltenders.
Liz Schepers netted her fourth career postseason goal, and first as a member of the Fleet, recording her first four shots on goal of the series tonight. Of her 11 career goals between the regular season and postseason, five have counted as game winners, including the Walter Cup-clinching goals for Minnesota in 2024 and 2025.
Shay Maloney tallied her first-ever playoff point with a primary assist in her third postseason game. The second-year Fleet forward recorded seven points (3G, 4A) with appearances in all 30 regular-season games. Tonight’s helper made for her sixth point earned away from Boston’s home venues (1G, 5A).
Ella Huber notched a secondary assist for her first point in three career postseason games. The Fleet rookie forward has seven points this season, almost half of which were game-winning goals (3). Six of her points have come in games away from the state of Massachusetts (3G, 3A), including tonight’s helper.
Aerin Frankel made 20 saves for the first time this series, after previously recording at least as many saves in all eight of her starts during the 2024 playoffs. She has allowed two goals in back-to-back games, after allowing one or fewer goals in 19 of her 27 prior starts in 2025-26, including Game 1. The last time she suffered consecutive losses in a playoff series was Games 2 and 3 of the 2024 finals against Minnesota.
Michela Cava notched her first playoff point as a member of the Charge, previously recording 13 (7G, 6A) with Minnesota in back-to-back Walter Cup championships. Her primary assist moved her into sole ownership of the second-most postseason points all-time, with only Taylor Heise holding more (6G, 11A). The third-year forward now has 50 points scored through 105 career games (22G, 28A).
Kateřina Mrázová recorded her first postseason point in nine career games with her fourth assist on a Kadirova goal this season and fourth primary helper overall. The Czech forward has now reached the double-digit points mark during 33 games in 2025-26, after recording two goals and seven assists during the regular season.
Jessie Eldridge led all skaters with seven shots on goal, her highest total as a member of the Fleet, but a number she’s reached on three other occasions.
Alina Müller led all skaters in faceoff wins for the third straight game of the series, going 13-for-21 at the dot to bring her playoff efficiency to 66.7%.
THREE STARS
1. Gwyneth Philips (OTT) 36/37 SV
2. Ronja Savolainen (OTT) 1G, 1A
3. Liz Schepers (BOS) 1G
NEXT GAME
Game 4: Sunday, May 10 at Ottawa (Canadian Tire Centre) at 3 p.m. ET