Vanišová scores twice late as Ottawa Charge stun Boston Fleet to keep playoff hopes alive
The Associated Press | Posted: March 29, 2025 9:55 PM | Last Updated: March 29
Ottawa moves past Minnesota for 4th and final playoff spot with 4 games left to play
Tereza Vanišová scored a pair of goals in a 32-second span with just three-and-a-half minutes left and the Ottawa Charge stunned the Boston Fleet 2-1 on Saturday in St. Louis.
The win moves the Charge (10-11-1-4) into the fourth and final position for a playoff berth with four games left in the regular season.
Vanišová provided the go-ahead score with three minutes left poking in a loose puck at the net past Fleet (8-8-6-4) goalie Aerin Frankel who denied Ottawa for 56 minutes.
Vanišová knotted it at 1-1 off a Boston turnover in the Fleet end rifling a shot past Frankel with 3:32 left.
Vanišová leads Ottawa with 14 goals and has scored six in the last four games.
WATCH l Vanišová lifts Charge over Fleet for crucial win:
With a little more than four minutes left to play, Frankel turned away Gabbie Hughes with a sprawling kick save. Then, less than 15 seconds later, Frankel thwarted Danielle Serdachny with a glove save off a hard wrist shot.
Boston's Susanna Tapani intercepted a pass in Ottawa's end and scored unassisted on a wrister for the first goal of the game at the 8:25 mark of the first period. It was Tapani's 11th goal of the season.
A scoreless second period proved to be a function of outstanding goaltending turned in by Frankel and Ottawa's Gwenyth Philips who were previously teammates at Northeastern University.
Boston lost for just second time this season (7-2) after establishing a first-period lead.
It was Ottawa's first win of the season against Boston in five attempts. Four of the five games have been decided by a single goal.
WATCH l Full replay of Charge-Fleet game in St. Louis: