Highlights and Press Conferences available on the Vancouver and Ottawa YouTube channels
OTTAWA, ON (January 9, 2026) – The Ottawa Charge made history at home with their fifth straight win, outlasting a third period surge by the Vancouver Goldeneyes by scoring two late empty net goals to skate to a 4-2 victory. The historic win delighted a rowdy crowd of 7,889 fans at TD Place on the team’s Country Night. Ronja Savolainen recorded the scoresheet’s lone goal across the first two periods, coming mid-way through the first (10:12) to put Ottawa ahead. Anna Meixner doubled the Charge’s lead 5:07 into the third before a flurry of back-and-forth action in the game’s final 10 minutes, starting with Sophie Jaques bringing the Goldeneyes within one at 11:13. Vancouver goaltender Kristen Campbell was pulled with just under two minutes to go to give the Goldeneyes an extra attacker, but Charge captain Brianne Jenner potted an empty netter to give Ottawa a 3-1 insurance lead. Michelle Karvinen kept things close with her first career PWHL goal at 18:58 to bring the Goldeneyes back within one, but Rebecca Leslie closed the game out for Ottawa with a final empty-net goal at 19:36. Both netminders turned away 23/25 shots, with Gwyneth Philips earning her sixth win of the season, tied for most in the PWHL.
Both teams head on the road for Takeover Tour stops on Sunday with Ottawa visiting Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre to play the Boston Fleet in the city’s second PWHL game of the year, while Vancouver heads to Québec City to face the Montréal Victoire at Videotron Centre.
QUOTES
Charge defender Ronja Savolainen on what’s contributed to the team’s five-game winning streak: “We have huge confidence in this team. We have fun before and during the games. We believe in ourselves and everything we do out there. We’ve been paying attention to small details in the practices, and we’re taking that to the games. It’s been showing in the last games.”
Ottawa defender Jocelyne Larocque on Savolainen’s evolution of play. “She’s got it all. She’s got a great size. She’s physical. She’s got a great shot, great vision. She defends well. I love playing with her. I think we try to make each other’s job easy. As a defender, you want to do that for your partner. She really values defending, and I think I do too. It’s a great pairing.”
Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski on the team’s performance: “I thought it was a really good hockey game. I thought our team competed hard and was resilient to the end. There were a lot of positives that came out of it, and we took some steps to playing a complete hockey game. I think we're still learning some situational decision-making, we turn the puck over still too much. Some of that's a credit to Ottawa and their pressure and speed, but I think that's something we're still growing in as a club.”
Goldeneyes forward Michelle Karvinen on scoring her first PWHL goal: “There are not a lot of firsts left when you get to this point in your career but being a rookie here and getting the first one is huge and something that I will always remember. But obviously it's more fun getting one of those goals in a game you win. But it doesn't take away that it's something special.”
NOTABLES
Ottawa’s five-game winning streak (2-3-0-0) surpasses their previous high of four straight wins from Mar. 20 to Apr. 24, 2024, during the inaugural season (3-1-0-0). The Charge are just the second team in the PWHL this season to win five straight following Boston’s opening run of five consecutive regulation victories.
The Charge have now recorded a three-game winning streak at TD Place in each of their first three seasons. A fourth straight home win on Jan. 28 against Seattle would set a new team record.
Ottawa has scored three goals in the third period twice this season, both times at home against Vancouver.
Vancouver has scored 11 third period goals this season, including two tonight, which exceeds their combined total of goals in the first period (7) and second period (2).
Ronja Savolainen has her first career three-game point streak (1G, 2A), dating back to Dec. 27, after scoring her second goal of the season. The soon-to-be three-time Finnish Olympian had points in back-to-back games three times last season for the Charge. The defender’s two goals in 11 games match her 2024-25 season total across 28 games.
Anna Meixner scored her second goal of the season, doubling her 2024-25 season total. Both of her goals this season have come on home ice against the Goldeneyes.
Brianne Jenner’s sixth goal brought her point total to 11 and into a four-way tie for the league’s scoring lead, and third overall in goals. The Charge captain is just one goal shy of her 2024-25 season total and four points away from reaching 50 in her career. Ottawa’s all-time regular season record improves to 17-1 when she scores.
Rebecca Leslie has six points in six games (dating back to Dec. 17), the most productive stretch of her career, after scoring her fifth goal of the season tonight. Her nine points (5G, 4A) in 11 games matches her inaugural season total with Toronto (2G, 7A) in 24 games.
Sophie Jaques’s fourth goal of the season ties her with Boston’s Megan Keller for the league lead among blue liners. After being named to her country’s Olympic team for the first time, the Toronto native also recorded a season-high six shots on goal to lead all skaters and extend her league lead among all defenders in the category with 35.
Michelle Karvinen’s first goal of her PWHL career, and third point, came in her 11th game. On Jan. 2, the 35-year-old was named to Finland’s national team setting her up to compete in her fifth Olympic Winter Games.
Gwyneth Philips became the first goaltender to surpass 300 saves this season (301) and second to win five straight starts following her U.S. Olympic teammate Aerin Frankel of Boston. She has posted a .934 save percentage in her last five games, compared to a .924 mark in her first five starts.
Peyton Hemp recorded her first career multi-point game with two assists. The Charge fourth-round pick now has four assists on the season, all primary helpers, including three against the Goldeneyes (also Dec. 16, the rookie’s first PWHL point). Across four seasons at the University of Minnesota, Hemp tallied 123 points (58G, 65A) across 156 regular season games, with eight multi-point games in 2024-25.
Anna Shokhina has points in consecutive games for the second time this season (also Dec. 4-16 with a goal and an assist) recording her third assist of the season on Meixner’s goal. The second-round pick had Ottawa’s lone goal in the Charge’s 2-1 loss at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.
Jocelyne Larocque has points in back-to-back regular season games for the first time as a member of the Charge with an assist tonight and two helpers last Saturday. The defender last produced in consecutive games May 20-22 (1G, 1A) against Minnesota in the PWHL Walter Cup Finals.
Brooke Hobson recorded her first assist and second point as a member of the Charge on the team’s second goal of the night. The third-year defender had three helpers last season as a member of the Sirens.
Claire Thompson picked up an assist for her eighth point of the season (3G, 5A), the second most in the league among defenders behind the Fleet’s Keller. The blueliner has points in back-to-back games for the third time this season and has produced in all three games against Ottawa (1G, 2A).
Michela Cava recorded her fourth assist of the season and has points in consecutive games for the first time as a Goldeneye. Her last regular season point streak came in the Frost’s final games of the season with an assist in each game (Apr. 30-May 3).
Nina Jobst-Smith recorded 8:57 of ice time in her first career PWHL game after being activated on Jan. 2 from LTIR (lower-body). Earlier this week, the rookie defender was named to Germany’s Olympic team for the first time.
Eight players from these two teams were named to Canada’s Olympic roster earlier this afternoon: Ottawa forwards Emily Clark, Jenner and defender Larocque and Vancouver forward Jenn Gardiner and defenders Jaques and Thompson. Goldeneyes goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer (backup tonight) and forward Sarah Nurse (on LTIR) were also named to the Canadian team.
THREE STARS
1. Ronja Savolainen (OTT) 1G
2. Sophie Jaques (VAN) 1G
3. Peyton Hemp (OTT) 2A
STANDINGS
Ottawa: 15 PTS (3-3-0-5) – 4th Place (Tied)
Vancouver: 12 PTS (3-1-1-6) – 7th Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Ottawa: Sunday, Jan. 11 at Boston (in Halifax) at 12 p.m. ET
Vancouver: Sunday, Jan. 11 at Montréal (in Québec City) at 2 p.m. ET