Takeaways: Fleet Get Stood Up By Sceptres, 3-1

Instead of keeping Wednesday’s momentum going, the Boston Fleet reverted to their offensive struggles last night when they fell on the road to the Toronto Sceptres, 3-1. The loss snapped the Fleet’s win streak at two and Aerin Frankel’s at five, while Toronto is now on a three-game win streak and six-game point streak.

Goal Rundown

Just four seconds after their power play expired, Emma Maltais made it 1-0 Sceptres at 4:06 of the opening frame. The goal was reviewed, but it was determined the puck crossed the line before the whistle blew.

In the second period, Megan Keller sent a laser into the top corner for the second straight game to make it 2-0 at 4:58.

Later, Emma Woods snuck behind the Fleet defenders and soon sent home an Izzy Daniel feed to make it 2-1 Toronto with just 20 seconds remaining in the second period.

Finally, Jesse Compher made it 3-1 Sceptres with a power play goal at 17:31 of the third. The Sceptres have scored on the power play in every game of their point streak. Their 15 goals and 30% success rate are both good for the league lead, with the New York Sirens, who have 10 goals and an 18.9% success rate, closest to them in both categories.

In goal, Aerin Frankel made 25 saves in the loss, while Kristen Campbell turned aside 16 for the win.

Takeaways

1. The Fleet need to fix their starts.

For the second straight game, the Fleet had a rocky opening frame. The Sceptres started the game hot and got a goal to show for it, which actually sparked the Fleet for a little while. However, they barely tested Campbell, and that’s just not a recipe for success (more on that later). Meanwhile, they let the Sceptres get plenty of good chances at the other end, and had it not been for Frankel, it could’ve been a much deeper hole. These rough starts have been a problem off-and-on all season, so the Fleet would do well to figure it out instead of relying on playing catch-up every night.

2. Keller stays hot

One positive for the Fleet in this game was that Megan Keller stayed hot. She has goals in two straight games and is on a three-game point streak. It’s no coincidence this streak has come at a time when she’s been shooting more, as she has 13 shots on goal in the past three games. She’s feeling herself offensively, and the Fleet need her to keep it going. Her five goals are good for the league lead among defenders, while her 12 points sit third, two back of Toronto's Renata Fast and Minnesota's Claire Thompson. When she’s on her game, there are few, if any, who are better than her.

3. The Fleet didn’t test Kristen Campbell enough

Above all else, the Fleet lost to the Sceptres because they did not test Kristen Campbell enough. It’s not a secret she hasn’t been quite herself this season, and while she played well tonight, the Fleet barely made her work. They landed just 17 shots on goal, their lowest total of the season. To make matters worse, just two of those shots were from the slot, and even those were right near the edge of it. They didn’t get any from just outside the crease, and that’s one place you absolutely want to be going when you have a goaltender whose confidence might not be at an all-time high. Sure, the Sceptres did a good job defending, but the Fleet needed to find a way to get to the dirty areas more. They've been on a streak of scoring pretty goals, but they must remember that’s not how most of them are scored in this league.

“I think we needed to get more shots on net," Fleet head coach Courtney Kessel said postgame. "Find a way to get inside the scoring area. We had opportunities to make it a different game out there and we didn't. They scored at the end of the second and I think the momentum shifted.“ 

The Fleet return to the Tsongas Center Sunday afternoon to face off against the Minnesota Frost, who are coming off an ugly 8-3 loss to the Ottawa Charge on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m. ET, and you can find the game on NESN, FanDuel Sports Network North, TSN, the PWHL Youtube Channel, and thepwhl.com.