Montreal completes dramatic OT comeback with face goal vs. Ottawa in PWHL Finals

The energy was sucked out of Place Bell in Game 1 in the 2026 PWHL Walter Cup Finals after Montreal's Laura Stacey went down as the Victoire trailed the Ottawa Charge 2-1 with 18 seconds remaining.

The moment galvanized the Victoire, and as the clock ticked down, Montreal rookie Nicole Gosling scored an equalizer with 2.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime. It not only marked the first playoff goal of Gosling's career, but the latest playoff goal scored in a regulation. And it couldn't have come at a better time for Montreal.

Stacey returned to the ice to start the extra period and gave her team a jolt of energy that Montreal rode all the way to the finish line. No. 1 Victoire went on to defeat No. 4 Charge 3-2 in overtime to take a 1-0 lead in the PWHL Finals. Abby Roque scored the overtime winner after the puck ricocheted off her face and into the goal.

"We play for the people around us. We play for (Laura) Stacey," said Roque, who finished with two goals in the dramatic comeback victory. "Shout-out to Nic (Gosling). Never say die. She went to that one and got us tied up. And honestly Maggie (Flaherty) saw me all the way in the back door. Lucky enough, it hits off my face and goes in."

Ottawa was in charge a majority of the game (no pun intended). Ottawa forward Rebecca Leslie opened scoring in the all-Canadian final with an unassisted goal in the second period after both teams were held scoreless in the first period. Leslie attempted an initial shot on goal, cleaned up the rebound and found the back of the net at the 16:56 mark to give the Charge a 1-0 lead.

Montreal settled in during the third period and Roque scored with 7:48 remaining in the game to tie it up, 1-1. The equalizer was assisted by Nadia Mattivi and Stacey, marking Roque's first goal of the postseason. Then Leslie scored again with 4:04 remaining on a Poulin turnover to put Ottawa back in the driver's seat.

It marked Leslie's fourth multi-goal game of the season.

Montreal's Stacey went down with 18.2 seconds remaining after being checked into the boards by Ottawa's Gabbie Hughes. Stacey immediately grabbed at her left leg and went down on the ice in pain as teammate Marie-Philip Poulin signaled for the training staff. Stacey was eventually helped to her feet and gingerly skated off the ice with the assistance of Poulin as the crowd chanted "Stacey."

Ottawa was seconds away from taking a 1-0 lead in their second consecutive PWHL Finals. Then the unthinkable happened and the momentum instantly switched. Montreal's Maureen Murphy and Poulin connected with Gosling, who got the puck past Ottawa's Gwyneth Philips to tie it up 2-2 with 2.1 seconds left.