Emily Clark scored at 2:47 of overtime on Tuesday night to lead the Ottawa Charge to a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Frost.
With the win the Charge take a 1-0 lead in the Professional Women’s Hockey League best-of-five championship series for the Walter Cup.
Ottawa is a perfect 3-0 on home ice through the playoffs. The Frost have never won Game 1 of a playoff series in four attempts.
Clark came down the wing and wired a shot past Nicole Hensley, who finished the game with 17 saves.
WATCH | Clark’s OT winner helps Charge win Game 1 of PWHL Finals vs. Frost:
Emily Clark’s OT winner lifts Charge over Frost in PWHL Finals opener
The game required extra time after Gwyneth Philips had a rare miscue early in the third period, leading to the Frost’s tying goal.
Philips, who stopped 25 shots, mishandled the puck while attempting to play it, turning it over to Katy Knoll. Knoll quickly fed a pass to Klara Hymlarova, who buried the wide-open chance to tie the game 1-1.
With 6:08 remaining in regulation the Charge were set to go on the power play but officials then reviewed an incident that saw Rebecca Leslie cross check Mellissa Channell-Watkins. It was initially assessed as a major but then downgraded to a minor creating offsetting minors.
Moments earlier the Frost had been generating a number of chances on the power play, but Philips was solid. As the penalty was expiring the Charge were able to clear the puck with Jocelyne Larocque making a cross-ice pass to Tereza Vanisova who dropped a pass to Leslie.
Hensley couldn’t get a clear view of the shot, partially screened by her teammate Lee Stecklein.
Earlier in the period, both Brooke McQuigge and Denisa Krisova had quality scoring opportunities — one denied by Philips, the other sailing just wide.
A scoreless first period saw both teams fail to capitalize on power-play chances.
Minnesota had just one shot on goal, while Ottawa generated a couple of good chances but was unable to beat Hensley.
Gabbie Hughes had a chance in the dying seconds of the period but couldn’t get it through traffic.
Game 2 in the series is Thursday in Ottawa.
