Takeaways: Fleet Sweep Season Series Over Sirens With 5-2 Win

Despite a torrid start from the New York Sirens, the Boston Fleet completed the season sweep over them last night with a 5-2 win. Aerin Frankel stood tall during a 32-shot barrage in the first 40 minutes to keep her team in it, while Hilary Knight led the way offensively with her first PWHL hat trick and four point night. The win slid the Fleet into second place, two points ahead of the Toronto Sceptres. At the other end, the Sirens' record losing streak hit nine games and they sit firmly in the standings, seven points back of Ottawa, who has a game in hand.

Goal Rundown

Élizabeth Giguère opened the scoring 7:21 into the first period when she sent a backhand shot past Aerin Frankel.

Later, Alina Müller tied things up by one-touching a Hilary Knight pass home at 14:48.

Early in the second period, the Fleet's power play came through as Knight banged a power play goal past Kayle Osborne at 1:36.

Knight later snapped a breakaway shot past Osborne to give the Fleet a two-goal lead at 12:16.

After sneaking in from the circle on the power play, Sarah Fillier sent an Abby Roque feed home to bring her team back within one at 14:22.

In the third period, Jill Saulnier fed a pass to Susanna Tapani, who was crashing the net hard. She didn’t miss the opportunity to restore her team’s two-goal lead with just over five minutes left in the game. 

Finally, with just 8.3 seconds remaining, Knight potted an empty net goal to complete the hat trick and a career-high four point night.

In goal, Frankel tied her season-high of 38 saves to secure the win, while Osborne made 15 in the loss.

Takeaways

1. Despite some close calls, but the Fleet earned the first six-game season sweep.

It’s been far from perfect, but the Fleet fought hard to earn this sweep via four regulation and two shootout wins. It is not the first PWHL regular season sweep, as Toronto swept Montréal last season, but it is the first six-game one (last season featured five-game series). The Sirens’ brutal losing streak added another layer of desperation to their game tonight, but yet again, they found a way to win.

“Yeah, the first 40 minutes obviously wasn't good,” Boston head coach Courtney Kessel said postgame. “I knew it was gonna be a hard game, harder than most. You come in, we’ve played New York five times in the last almost month, and we've been on the better side of those five games. And it's a team that's desperate, fighting for any point at the bottom, right? We've been there, we know what that feels like. So, heading into this game…it's first of all hard to sweep a team 6-0, and when you have a team that's a little bit desperate and fighting for every inch of their lives right now, you knew it was going to be a battle. So, not the 40 we wanted to start with, but the 20 we wanted to end with.”

2. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Fleet got outshot and struggled to generate offense until the third period.

Much like the penalties early in the season, this is a takeaway I’d love to stop including. Knight will get all the attention in this win for scoring the hat trick, but the Fleet owe this game to Aerin Frankel. It is not good to allow 32 shots in just two periods, to put it simply. It was made worse by the Fleet generating very little at the other end, with just 11 shots in that span. Frankel had to make numerous brilliant saves to keep her team within striking distance, and then in the lead. Sure, it's nice they capitalized on their chances and got a team record five goals, and it’s wonderful that they can rely on Frankel so much. However, perhaps spending more quality time in the offensive zone for a change isn't such a bad idea.

3. Knight grateful for the win and the hat trick at home.

As mentioned, Knight tallied her first PWHL hat trick and four point night as she continues her outstanding season. Her 11 goals are good for second behind only Marie-Philip Poulin (12), and her 21 points are third behind Hannah Miller and Sarah Fillier (both have 22). It was obvious after the Sirens pulled Osborne that the Fleet were doing whatever they could to get Knight the hat trick, and the always humble Knight said postgame that she was grateful for it, but more grateful for the win.

“That was wild, I think all three of us touched it,” Knight said of the scramble that eventually led to her third goal. “I just saw the puck go, and I was like, let's not get an icing call, let's just go for it. So, really fortunate to be able to get a hat trick. I think it's my first in the league, so really exciting. But I think just echoing before, every single team is really good and to be able to close out the door and get three points tonight was big for us.”

Unbeknownst to Knight, Shay Maloney picked some hats up off the ice and brought them over to the bench. When asked if she would pick one or start another tradition, Knight hadn’t thought about it yet.

“I just like winning games,” Knight said. “So that's kind of where my processing speed is right now. But yeah, I mean to do it in front of hometown fans, it's really fun when we have hats out there or any type of toss.”

4. Tsongas Center has been a house of horrors for opponents this season

After dropping their home opener to the Minnesota Frost 2-1, the Fleet have won six straight games at the Tsongas Center (and seven straight home games, counting the one in Seattle). They own a 0.792 home points percentage, which leads the PWHL. The Fleet have played the fewest home games in the league, but they’ll be rewarded by playing seven of their last nine as the home team. Five of those games will take place at Tsongas, two are in Boston proper at Agganis Arena, and the other is in St. Louis as part of the Takeover Tour. So much home-ice advantage has the potential to be a massive boost for a team that is already surging, and it could go a long way to securing them a high playoff seed. 

“I think we're all excited to sleep in our own beds for maybe three consecutive nights,” Kessel quipped postgame. “It's gonna be weird to be able to practice for three days in a row, but we’re excited.”

The Fleet will be back in action on Saturday when they head into Boston proper for the first time in their history, where they’ll play the Montréal Victoire at Boston University’s Agganis Arena. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. ET, and you can find the game on NESN, CBC, Radio-Canada, the PWHL Youtube Channel, and thepwhl.com.