Peslarovà, Depth Scoring Lead Banged-Up Fleet to 3-0 Win Over Sceptres

A battered and bruised Boston Fleet team took care of business Saturday afternoon, shutting out the Toronto Sceptres 3-0 to stay in third place in the standings. All three goals came from the Fleet’s bottom six forwards, while Klára Peslarová grabbed a shutout in her first career start, becoming the first European goaltender to earn a PWHL shutout.

Goal Rundown

Lexie Adzija opened the scoring just 2:35 into the game by finishing a terrific feed by Jamie Lee Rattray from behind the net.

Later in the first period, Hannah Brandt bobbled one through Kristen Campbell’s five-hole to make it 2-0 Fleet at 11:47.

With just six seconds remaining in the second period, Theresa Schafzahl finished another nice feed from Rattray to make it 3-0 Fleet on the power play despite getting outshot 19-13 at that point.

That was it for the scoring despite Toronto peppering Klára Peslarová with ten more shots while the Fleet only managed two of their own in the third. 

In goal, Peslarová stopped all 29 shots she faced for her first official PWHL shutout in her first start, while Campbell turned aside 12 shots in the loss.

Takeaways

1. The Fleet’s depth forwards stepped up.

The Fleet have struggled with depth scoring for most of the season, but the team's bottom-six stepped up in a crucial game today. All three goals came from bottom-six forwards, as did three of the five assists.

“It was great to see a little bit more of a scoring distribution,” Fleet head coach Courtney Kessel said postgame. “I thought all four lines were going and anyone could be on the ice at anytime, and that’s what a coach’s dream is. That’s what you want every game.”

Depth scoring was key to the Fleet’s playoff success last year. If they can keep it rolling for the next week and beyond, they’ll have a chance to make some noise again.

2. Peslarová made the most of her first start.

After a devastating end to her Worlds tournament, Peslarová was given the nod for her first career start with Aerin Frankel in concussion protocol. She made the most of it, turning aside all 29 shots to secure the shutout. She’s stopped all 44 shots she’s faced in 100 minutes of PWHL action, although today was technically her first shutout. She ws credited with the win after taking over in relief of Emma Söderberg on February 16, but did not get the official shutout since Söderberg had allowed two goals.

“I was waiting for this opportunity basically the whole season and when it came, you just need to take it as it is,” Peslarová said postgame. “The girls helped me a lot and as I said already to them in the locker room, if they have my back, I have theirs. I’m just grateful for this opportunity because you never know when it’s going to come again.” 

Peslarová was her usual self in the goal, an active puck handler who makes even difficult save look easy. She also showed some feistiness when a Sceptres player ended up in her goal, which she played coy about postgame.

“I don’t know about any feistiness,” Peslarová said with a smile and laugh. “...There was some little, I don’t know, accident or something, I don’t know what actually happened in front, and she ended up in the net so I just didn’t want to allow her [to] take the front. I still need to focus for my game, the puck was somewhere behind the net, in the corner, so I just need to play the puck, so she was just parked there.”

Also, in what is surely the most important news of the day, Peslarová’s pregame meal was Eggs Benedict today, with no oranges. 

3. The Fleet need to generate more consistent offense, starting with their power play.

In things I have surely never said before, the Fleet must start generating more consistent offense if they want to be successful long-term. They did the most important thing today and capitalized on their quality chances to win, but 15 shots is far from ideal, especially when you let up nearly double that. Part of that problem comes from their power play, which scored today but managed just two shots on five opportunities. Special teams become even more important in the playoffs, so they need to figure it out quickly.

4. The Fleet’s defense did a good job of boxing the Sceptres out.

On the flip side of not getting enough quality chances, the Fleet did a relatively good job limiting the Sceptres’ grade-A looks. They still got some, but for the most part, the Fleet cleared the puck out of danger before they could get any second-chance opportunities, and just two shots came from the typical high-danger areas. Peslarová saw nearly everything that came her way, which is not always the case for Fleet netminders. Like the depth scoring, if they can carry that kind of defensive structure into the playoffs, they’ll set themselves up for success.

The Fleet are back in action Monday night when they travel to Montréal for their final regular-season road game. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET at Place Bell in Laval, QC, and you can find the game on NESN, TSN, RDS, the PWHL YouTube Channel, and thepwhl.com.