'We never quit': Resilient Ottawa Charge comfortable as underdogs in Walter Cup final

Before the puck dropped on a must-win Game 3 in the PWHL Walter Cup final, Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod stood on the bench and took in her surroundings.

Her team was facing elimination, but MacLeod felt gratitude to be there.

"How is this my job?" MacLeod wondered to herself, as she looked around a packed and loud Canadian Tire Centre. "What a gig I've got."

The Charge didn't let a playoff-record crowd of 16,894 people down.

Ottawa mounted a comeback late in the third period, scoring two goals in about five minutes to defeat the Montreal Victoire, 2-1.

The Victoire lead the best-of-five series, 2-1, with Game 4 returning to Ottawa on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. Once again, it will be win or go home for the Charge.

But this team thrives around that mentality. It feels comfortable playing the underdog.

Resilience is baked into the Charge's DNA, and has been all season long. They don't care whether they're trailing, nor do they care whether you think they'll lose.

"Going into this season, there were some doubts about our team and what we could accomplish," said Charge forward Rebecca Leslie, who scored the game-winning goal in front of her hometown crowd. "I think that we proved everyone wrong. We continuously just worked hard. We never quit."

Ottawa stays alive in PWHL final, Leslie scores winner in final minute over Montreal

Montreal's Hayley Scamurra opened the scoring with less than 13 minutes left in regulation, off a puck that bounced off the arena's boards and directly to her stick.

Some teams might have panicked. Instead, MacLeod used a TV timeout to remind her team that it wasn't over yet.

"It's typical Carla," Leslie said. "She just believes in us, and she knows that we can continue to push. At that point,