After collapse against New York, Ottawa Charge face must-win game Saturday

After her team blew a 3-0 lead in the third period on Tuesday, yielding six unanswered goals, Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod couldn't explain to reporters what had happened to her team.

The Charge had a valuable three points within their grasp, only to see them slip away on home ice at the hands of a hungry, last-place New York Sirens team.

"A pretty good, solid two periods obviously gave [us] an opportunity to win a hockey game, an important hockey game," MacLeod said after Tuesday's game, flanked by captain Brianne Jenner and Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie. "To see it transpire the way that it did in the third, it's hard to articulate. I don't have the answers."

It's left Ottawa on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, facing a must-win game against Boston in St. Louis on Saturday. You can watch the game on CBC Sports' platforms, including CBC Gem, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

At stake is the prospect of a second straight year out of the post-season.

It's an idea Ottawa general manager Mike Hirshfeld doesn't want to accept, and a weight he said he wears on behalf of Ottawa's rabid fanbase every day.

Hirshfeld has seen many people talk about his team like it has already been eliminated from the playoff race after Tuesday's loss. But he remains confident in them.

"It was three points we could have used, but we're right in this thing," Hirshfeld said in an interview with CBC Sports from St. Louis. "We have a game in hand [on Minnesota] and we're only two points down. We're trying to keep it in perspective and we know that we have it in our own hands."

Tuesday's collapse began with a tipped puck a little more than a minute into the third period.

Things got worse when the Charge took three back-to-back penalties,