OTTAWA, ON (February 13, 2025) – In the highest scoring game in PWHL history, the Ottawa Charge soared to an 8-3 win over the Minnesota Frost at TD Place on Thursday night. Tereza Vanišová’s hat trick and Gabbie Hughes’ two-goal game were among the seven multi-point performances that propelled Ottawa to victory in front of an electric home crowd. During a back-and-forth first period, the Charge opened the scoring with two goals on their first two shots, first from Mannon McMahon and second from Hughes, who tallied her first of the season and Ottawa’s first shorthanded ‘jailbreak' goal of the campaign. Minnesota responded with two goals of their own from Britta Curl-Salemme and Michela Cava to even the score at the end of the opening period. During the second period, the Charge opened the floodgates by adding four goals to their tally – Hughes netted her second of the night, Vanišová added two of her own, and Victoria Bach notched one more – to put Ottawa up by four heading into the final frame. The Charge further extended their lead in the final period by adding two more goals, the first from captain Brianne Jenner on the power play, and the second from Vanišová for her third of the game. Minnesota managed to find the back of the net late in the game with a goal from Sophie Jaques, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit, as the Charge secured their first win in four games – and their first at TD Place since their home opener on Dec. 3 – to jump into a three-way tie for fourth place in the league with 20 points. Minnesota remains in second position with 26 points.
QUOTES
Ottawa’s Gabbie Hughes on the meaning of scoring her first two goals of the season on mental health awareness night: “It doesn't matter who's scoring the goals at the end of the day. Today was a little special for Sophie and for Daron, so it was pretty cool to get those two goals. I think that was amazing in itself. The first one for Sophie and the second for Daron. I think it was a perfect amount for today!”
Charge’s Rebecca Leslie on getting her first two points of the season on the night designated to promote Do It For Daron and Sophie’s Squad: “Daron was a great friend of mine and I think that it just shows how strong the hockey community is and how we all blend in situations like that. It's crazy to think that Gabbie and I had both experienced losing someone special to mental health. But the outcome of tragedy has been to raise awareness for youth mental health, and I think that that is what's important. We can inspire conversations, and these games just raise awareness and we're proud to represent the mental health community and then to get a win is just great.”
Minnesota Head Coach Ken Klee: “They seemed to capitalize on every shot they had, and we didn’t defend very well. It was just one of those nights where everything they were putting towards the net seemed to go in for them. I liked our battle back after the first. We were down two right away, but we found a way to battle back but we couldn’t stop the bleeding in the second. Once they got it going, they just kept on us.”
Minnesota defender Lee Stecklein: “It’s a long season and you can’t let one blip have a huge impact on the team. I don’t think our team obviously wants that either and we’re prepared to just move on. You have to move on, you are always playing another game, and the next game is the biggest one so we have to figure out what went wrong, fix that and control what we can. But I don’t think there’s panic or reason for concern right now.”
NOTABLES
Ottawa entered action tonight as the league’s lowest scoring team with an average of 1.80 goals-per-game and had combined for eight goals in their previous seven games heading into the international break. Their previous high this season was three goals, and the team record was five goals scored twice during the inaugural season.
The 11 combined goals surpass the previous single-game record of nine. Earlier this season, Minnesota beat Toronto 6-3 on Dec. 7, 2024, and last season Montréal beat Ottawa 6-3 on Feb. 24, 2024.
The Charge tied the PWHL record for most goals in a single period with four scored in the second frame of tonight’s game. Ottawa was one of three teams to achieve the feat during the inaugural season (Mar. 23, 2024), and the second team to do so this season (New York, Dec. 18, 2024).
Five goals match the largest margin for victory in a single PWHL game. The Frost lost 5-0 to New York earlier this season on Jan. 4, 2024.
Tereza Vanišová recorded her first-career hat trick, becoming just the second player to score three goals in a game this season, following Marie-Philip Poulin’s hat trick on Jan. 29 against Ottawa. Vanišová remains in sole possession of the team lead in points with 10 (7G, 3A) and is tied for third in the league in goals.
Gabbie Hughes recorded the first three-point game of her career, and first multi-point game of the season (2G, 1A). The Charge forward from Lino Lakes, MN, had two multi-goal games during the inaugural season and nine total goals. Her three helpers this season tie her assist total from last season through 24 games.
Shiann Darkangelo recorded her first three assists of the season to become just the third player in 2024-25 to record a three-assist game following Claire Thompson (MIN) and Erin Ambrose (MTL). The Charge forward’s first career multi-point game boosts her into a tie for third in team scoring with seven points (4G, 3A).
Ronja Savolainen recorded two assists for the first multi-point game of her PWHL career. The defender sits second among team blue liners in points with six (1G, 5A).
Emily Clark tallied two assists for her second multi-point game of the season and sits second among Charge skaters in points with eight (4G, 4A).
Aneta Tejralová recorded her first multi-point game of the season, and second of her career with two assists in the game. She now sits third among Charge defenders in scoring with eight points (2G, 6A).
Rebecca Leslie tallied two assists for her first two points of the season – and first-ever points in a Charge uniform – after recording nine points (2G, 7A) through 24 games with Toronto in the inaugural season.
Mannon McMahon scored her fourth goal of the season for the Charge and is now tied for second on the team in the category and third among PWHL rookies. The Maple Grove, MN, native has scored all four of her goals at TD Place.
Britta Curl-Salemme scored her sixth goal of the season and now leads all rookies in goals and ranks fourth in rookie points with eight (6G, 2A).
Michela Cava scored her seventh goal of the season and added an assist for her third multi-point game of the campaign. The Frost forward extended her point streak to four straight games (2G, 4A).
Taylor Heise recorded two assists for her fifth multi-point game of the season and third in four games. The Frost forward now leads the league with 12 assists and is tied for first overall with 16 points.
Kendall Coyne Schofield recorded her 10th assist of the season and is now tied with Heise for the league’s overall scoring lead with 16 points in 17 games. The Frost captain has now matched her inaugural season point total of 16 (6G, 10A) in 24 games.
Sophie Jaques scored for the second straight game and now has 11 points on the season (3G, 8A). The Frost defender has surpassed her point total of 10 (2G, 8A) set in 22 games during the inaugural season.
Brianne Jenner scored on the power play to give Ottawa their first goal on the advantage in six games since Jan. 14 against Toronto – snapping an 0/14 drought.
Victoria Bach netted her second goal of the season for her fourth point of the campaign, matching her goal total from last season in 16 games with Toronto.
Jincy Roese recorded her fifth assist of the season to match her inaugural season total. She leads all Charge defenders in points with seven (2G, 5A) in 13 games.
Ottawa becomes the fifth team to score a jailbreak goal this season, after scoring three in the inaugural season. Minnesota is now the only team in the league without a shorthanded marker.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Minnesota 2 0 1 - 3
Ottawa 2 4 2 – 8
1st Period-1, Ottawa, McMahon 4 (Hughes, Clark), 5:45. 2, Ottawa, Hughes 1 (Savolainen), 7:48 (SH). 3, Minnesota, Curl-Salemme 6 (Channell-Watkins), 10:07. 4, Minnesota, Cava 7 (Heise, Coyne Schofield), 15:32. Penalties-Markowski Ott (illegal body checking), 6:08.
2nd Period-5, Ottawa, Hughes 2 (Clark, Tejralová), 4:51. 6, Ottawa, Vanišová 5 (Savolainen), 8:11. 7, Ottawa, Vanišová 6 (Darkangelo, Leslie), 15:19. 8, Ottawa, Bach 2 (Vasko, Roese), 16:21. Penalties-Tejralová Ott (illegal body checking), 5:31; Curl-Salemme Min (roughing), 7:34; Larocque Ott (roughing), 7:34; Heise Min (high sticking), 17:29.
3rd Period-9, Ottawa, Jenner 2 (Darkangelo, Tejralová), 9:30 (PP). 10, Ottawa, Vanišová 7 (Darkangelo, Leslie), 9:52. 11, Minnesota, Jaques 3 (Heise, Cava), 17:48. Penalties-Heise Min (illegal body checking), 9:06; Larocque Ott (interference), 14:00.
Shots on Goal-Minnesota 11-10-5-26. Ottawa 9-9-8-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Minnesota 0 / 3; Ottawa 1 / 2.
Goalies-Minnesota, Hensley 3-2-1-0 (13 shots-9 saves); Rooney 6-2-1-1 (13 shots-9 saves). Ottawa, Maschmeyer 5-6-0-1 (26 shots-23 saves).
Attendance: 5,854
THREE STARS
1. Tereza Vanišová (OTT) 3G
2. Gabbie Hughes (OTT) 2G, 1A
3. Rebecca Leslie (OTT) 2A
STANDINGS
Minnesota (5-4-3-5) - 26 PTS – 2nd Place
Ottawa (6-0-2-8) - 20 PTS – 4th Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Minnesota: Sunday, February 16 at Boston at 1 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Sunday, February 16 vs. Toronto at 4 p.m. ET (Rogers Place, Edmonton)