Ottawa PWHL team anxious for back-to-back chances at first home win

Article content

Specific chores top the to-do list for Ottawa’s PWHL team this week.

Article content

With three tests in five days, it has to step up (to grab its first home win) and move up (the standings) while starting to catch up to the rest of the league (in the ‘Games Played’ category).

Article content

Because of a postponement earlier this month due to inclement weather, Ottawa has only had three games, which is half as many as half the league.

It has picked up at least one point in every game, but with two overtime losses at The Arena at TD Place, it is also still looking for its first home-ice victory.

The opportunities to change that soon couldn’t get any better, with last-place Toronto and second-last Boston visiting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Both teams also have five points, but Toronto has just one regulation-time win and one shootout win along with four regulation losses and Boston has a regulation-time win and an OT win along with two regulation losses.

Article content

Ottawa also hits the road for a date with Montreal on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at Place Bell in Laval.

“I think we actually have an advantage here being a few games behind,” goalie Emerance Maschmeyer said last week of the unbalanced schedule. “We’ve gotten to see other teams play a few times, and we’ve got a lot more practice time together and more time to jel. So yeah, I think it’s actually an advantage that we get to kind of scout them out before. (First-place) Minnesota is a great team, Toronto is a great team … you can go down the line and every team is a great team.”

Maschmeyer was outstanding in the 5-1 win in Toronto, stopping 23 shots while Erica Howe and Kristen Campbell combined to make 21 saves for the home team.

She also was the disappointed goalie in 3-2 overtime losses to Montreal and Minnesota in front of a combined crowd of 13,927 (including 8,318 for the opener) at TD Place and, along with the rest of her teammates, is anxious to send their supporters home with a victory.

Article content

“We’re excited,” she said of the back-to-backs at home. “We love playing here. Our fans are incredible. So yeah, we’re we’re going to regroup here, get a couple of practices in. We have an exciting week, with the three games. We’ve been excited to play more consistently and I think it will do us really well.

“Everyone is just trying to find their identity right now,” Maschmeyer added. “The season is still fresh.”

Coach Carla MacLeod has preached to her players the importance of bringing energy to every shift, while not getting caught up in the highs and lows of a game.

“It’s early, so we’re still trying to get that chemistry going,” said forward Gabby Hughes, who scored twice in Toronto and, along with Katerina Mrazova, Lexie Adzija and Ashton Bell is tied for the team scoring lead with three points. “But each period, each shift it it continues to grow and continues to get better. And what we have already is each other’s back. That’s huge to continue to grow together.”

Article content

Hughes acknowledged the schedule has been “a little different” and that having 11 days off before the Toronto game left her and her teammates “super excited” to get back in action.

“It almost felt like our first game again of the season,” she said. “So we’re excited to continue to get more games under our belts here soon.”

What Ottawa has been able to get thus far is balanced scoring.

The nine goals to date have been scored by seven different players.

Was having a spread-out attack expected?

“I think expectations coming in to any season in anything are worrisome,” MacLeod said. “It was more as you foster and grow the group you see that everyone has a confidence that they can contribute, and I think we keep talking about it constantly. We want to be a team, and there’s great lines in this league, there’s great players in this league, and we want to be a great team in this league and we’re striving towards that. Potentially one of the results is you get scoring from more players.”

Article content

Naturally, there are a few bugs to iron out before Ottawa gets to where it wants to be.

“We’re working on things defensively,” MacLeod said. “We’re talking about how to play without the puck, and how to get it back, with a sort of a semblance of a plan. We thought we did really well at that (against Minnesota) after we thought we struggled in the first two games.

“The identity is constantly living and morphing, based on what do you see in that moment, what do you see in that game. It’s our job as coaches to make sure we’re continuing to figure out where we want to go. But it’s not one word, it’s not one thing or two things. It’s a living, breathing piece of who we are, and we’re going to constantly be moving and shaking and morphing with the changes we need to make.”

Article content

One of the changes over the next two games could be in goal.

Maschmeyer, the Team Canada backup, is Ottawa’s No. 1 goaltender and has mostly played well, allowing seven goals for a 2.29 goals against average and stopping 62-of-69 shots for a .899 save percentage.

But with back-to-backs on the immediate menu, either Rachel McQuigge or Sandra Abstreiter could soon be making their debut.

“I’ll go get the dartboard out and just see what dart sits,” MacLeod said when asked about her goalie plans this week. “But it’s a great question, and you have to ask it. That’s what I’ve learned.”

dbrennan@postmedia.com

Article content