Takeaways: Fleet Fall to Frost in Home Opener, 2-1

The Boston Fleet's offensive struggles continued Wednesday night as they dropped their home opener against the Minnesota Frost 2-1. They fall to 0-0-0-2 and are the only team without a point on the season.

Quick Rundown

If you missed the game, here's how it went down.

Michela Cava opened the scoring for the Frost in the second period.

Hilary Knight then tied it up early in the third with her second of the season.

About five minutes later, Dominique Petrie capped off the scoring with a laser from the slot.

Aerin Frankel was less busy than in Game 1, but she continued her stellar play and made 26 saves. At the other end, Maddie Rooney collected 19 saves in her first game of the season.

Takeaways

1. Generating offense is still a problem.

Yet again, the story of this game is how the Fleet struggled to generate consistent offense. There have been a lot of one-and-done chances, which is not a good strategy to score goals in this league. The players need to be faster on rebounds, or things aren’t going to get better for them anytime soon. On the coaching side, head coach Courtney Kessel juggled all of the lines after the first game. It’s an understandable move considering how bad they struggled in the final 40 minutes of Game 1, but it’s difficult for the players to develop much chemistry when their linemates are constantly changing. So, perhaps some more lineup stability for a few games, at least to start them, might be helpful.

Turnovers during the breakout have also been a big issue, and it’s hard to generate much offense when you can’t even get out of your zone. Kessel cited that as a big problem when asked what she hopes to see change.

“We can’t turn pucks over at the blueline,” Kessel said. “I don’t think it’s a lack of offensive ability, I think it’s just the mistakes that happen prior to us getting in the o-zone that are holding us back right now.”

2. A 60-minute effort remains elusive.

Along with trouble generating offense, another returning theme from last season is the lack of a 60 minute effort from the Fleet. It was not quite as glaring as it was in Game 1, but they still disappeared for long stretches in the second and third periods. That can’t keep happening if they hope to snap this skid before it gets out of hand.

When asked what they're going to work on in practice to start changing this, Kessel kept it simple.

"We're just going to remember that it's a 60 minute game," said Kessel.

3. The new change in the head contact rule feels pointless.

I was initially a big fan of the changes the PWHL made to Rule 48 for Illegal Checks to the Head. Making head contact an automatic major and a game misconduct pending a review is the best way to eliminate it from the game. Players will learn to adapt to avoid that severe of a punishment. However, the PWHL left room for it to be downgraded to a minor if the hit was deemed accidental, and this hit on Alina Müller is representative of why even that much wiggle room is a problem.

Flaherty catches nothing but head and Müller stayed down for a moment before heading straight to the locker room. Yet, it was downgraded to a minor for accidental head contact despite Flaherty extending out her arm. That's not to say it was malicious, but it wasn't a complete accident either. Even if it was, this is not a hit that can happen, and it warranted a severe punishment regardless of intent. Kessel said the explanation they were given is that the penalty was downgraded because it was Müller’s stick that hit her head. From watching the replay countless times, it seems clear that while Müller's stick did hit her head, it was only because it was driven there by an elbow.

“You never want to see anyone get hit like that,” Kessel said. “You don’t want to see anyone get hurt. Hopefully it’ll be reevaulated and our hands are kind of tied at that point, but hopefully it’s looked at. We never want to see anyone get hurt.”

Kessel did not have any update on Müller's status postgame other than she was still being evaluated.

4. Knight going early is good, but she can't do it alone.

Hilary Knight notched her second goal of the season in just the second game, which is outstanding news for the Fleet. Last season, it took her six games to get her first and 11 games to get two. It’s also important to see her scoring in different ways, with the first coming off a signature wrist shot on the power play (her first PWHL power play goal) and the second off a redirect in the slot. The Fleet need her scoring if they’re going to get far this season.

On the flip side, those are the only two goals the Fleet have scored, which is not enough. Other players must start finding a way to bury pucks soon, or the Fleet are in big trouble. Knight cannot carry the offense alone. After the game, she emphasized that her personal success doesn't matter to her if they're not winning games.

"I mean, it doesn't matter when we're not winning games, right?," Knight said. "I think it's important that we find the net more. Obviously, playing a 60 minute game is more advantageous for us than not, so looking forward to our next opportunity to play 60 minutes."

Next up for the Fleet, the red-hot New York Sirens travel to the Tsongas Center for a 4 p.m. ET puck drop on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on NESN, MSGSN2, TSN, and the PWHL Youtube Channel.