Home cooking: Inside Rebecca Leslie's rise with her hometown Ottawa Charge

From the beginning, former Boston University women's hockey head coach Brian Durocher could see that Rebecca Leslie had something special.

Durocher first watched Leslie play as a 10th grader, and could see then that she had the innate hockey IQ that can make a player great.

She went on to play four seasons with Boston University, where she still holds the program record for career assists (102), two more than Marie-Philip Poulin's 100 with the Terriers.

"It’s just that little bit of vision, that little bit of sense, the peripheral vision that the real good playmakers have and she’s had her whole life, almost in a subtle way," said Durocher, who's retired from Boston University and is now a consultant and scout with the Ottawa Charge. "I always felt like she was a little bit underrated."

That vision was on display on Thursday when Leslie, who's now playing with her hometown Ottawa Charge, scored both goals for her team in a 3-2 overtime Game 1 loss to the Montreal Victoire in the Walter Cup final. Game 2 in the best-of-five series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Laval, Que.

Montreal Victoire edge Ottawa Charge in OT to win Walter Cup final opener

On her first goal, Leslie had the patience to wait for the right angle on a rebound on Montreal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens. The second goal, which put Ottawa ahead until Montreal tied the game with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation, saw Leslie pass on a shot, cut in front and hold for the right opportunity to slip the puck in five-hole on Desbiens.

"Both were real Cadillac type of plays," Durocher said.

It's the latest highlight in what has been a career year for Leslie, who's carved out a spot on Ottawa's top line. She put up 23 points in 30 games in the regular season,