Takeaways: Fleet Collapse in Third, Fall to Sceptres 4-2

A third-period collapse that saw Toronto score three goals in just over six minutes spelled the Fleet’s doom last night as they fell to the Toronto Sceptres, 4-2 at Agganis Arena. The loss snapped the Fleet’s nine-game point streak, with their last regulation loss coming on February 14 in Toronto. It also snapped their home point streak at nine, with their only other regulation home loss this season coming at the hands of the Minnesota Frost in the home opener on December 4.

Goal Rundown

After a few nice shots from her teammates, Hilary Knight whacked a rebound through Kristen Campbell to open the scoring on the power play at 16:28.

The offensive floodgates then burst open in the third period. Daryl Watts kicked things off at 4:07 with a behind-the-net goal that probably felt familiar to those who remember the 2021 NCAA national championship game.

Just 1:34 later, Hayley Scamurra tipped home her first of the season past Aerin Frankel to make it 2-1 Sceptres.

After more offensive pressure from Toronto, Renata Fast extended their lead when she punched one home at 10:16. 

A few minutes later, Hilary Knight got the Fleet back within one when she stuffed her second of the night past Campbell at 12:53. Her 15th goal of the season moved her back into sole possession of the league lead in points (28), and kept her within two of Montréal's Marie-Philip Poulin for the goal lead.

Finally, Daryl Watts potted her second of the night during a 5-on-3 power play to cap off the scoring at 16:26. All four Toronto goals can be found in the tweet below.

In goal, Frankel made 23 saves in the loss, while Campbell turned aside 28 for the win. 

Takeaways

1. The wheels fell off the bus in the third period for the Fleet.

After a strong first two periods, the Fleet collapsed in the third. They went nearly 12 minutes without a shot on goal, during which time the Sceptres potted three goals on eight shots. Knight soon got the Fleet back within one, but then an ill-timed 5-on-3 kill spelled Boston's doom. It was an uncharacteristic end to the game for the Fleet, who normally have their best periods in the third. Head coach Courtney Kessel attributed it to her team taking some shifts off in the third period.

“A few shifts in a row we couldn’t get the puck out, [it] ends up in the back of our net and it’s from behind the goal line, kinda hits off Franks and goes in the net, [I] think it’s a little bit unfortunate,” Kessel said. “But you can’t ever take a shift off in this league right? You see it, look at last night, 3-0 and all the sudden it’s 6-3, anything can happen in this league so you gotta show up every shift.”

2. Agganis shattered Boston's weeknight regular-season attendance record.

Last night was another sellout at Agganis, with 6,028 making their way into the arena. That tops the Saturday, March 8 afternoon game’s attendance of 5,968. It was their second-highest attendance total of the season (excluding Takeover Tour “home” games), a mere four people behind the weekend Tsongas sellout on February 16. However, it blew all other work/school night games out of the water, excluding Game 5 of the Walter Cup Final, which still stands as the Fleet’s highest-attended home game at 6,309. Their previous weeknight season high was 3,951 on January 22, while last regular season they topped out at 4,084 on April 18. Game 2 of the Walter Cup Final was also a weekday game and featured 4,543 fans.

Relocation is a complex topic that should not be based on just two games, and the idea of loyalty vs potentially just a novelty for fans deserves a lot of attention. I’ve been interviewing fans for a story exploring this issue further, and the overwhelming sentiment from those who attend games in Lowell has been that they like it there because they’re from nearby. However, I’ve also talked to many who could only go to the Agganis games because they were in the city. Ultimately, a move to Boston does give more people easier access to games than staying in Lowell, but whether they continue to take it when it's no longer just a special thing is something you can't tell from just two games. Still, these attendance figures will undoubtedly have the league’s attention, especially with senior league officers in attendance for both games.

3. In positive news, the Fleet’s top-ranked penalty kill mostly did its job against the league’s top-ranked power play.

Toronto’s power play has been sizzling this season, boasting a 29.6% success rate. The next best in the PWHL is the New York Sirens, who convert on 18.8% of their chances. Special teams were a big story heading into the game, particularly considering the Fleet has the league’s best penalty kill at 86.3%. It came in handy for them tonight until the 5-on-3, but the odds of killing off a two-minute 5v3 aren’t particularly good against any power play. The penalty kill looks even better when you consider that three of the Fleet's four penalties (excluding Kelly Babstock's match penalty with 2.8 seconds remaining) came against defenders, which elevates the "No Escape" rule. The Fleet need their penalty kill to stay strong as the intensity of games continues to ramp up because it's hard to imagine they'll suddenly learn to stay out of the box.

4. Ultimately, the Fleet beat themselves in a winnable game.

Further to my first takeaway, the Fleet largely played a great game until the third. Toronto deserves credit for playing well and hemming the Fleet into their defensive zone for long stretches, but the Fleet simply didn't do enough to fight back, particularly in those first 12 minutes. Then, just when it looked like they might rally, an uncharacteristically undisciplined Jessica Digirolamo roughing penalty led to a full two-minute 5-on-3 and the fourth goal, which all but sealed the game for Toronto. Undisciplined penalties are never good, but it’s particularly damaging to take one when your defensive partner is already headed to the box and you’re down a goal with just over four minutes remaining. Knight did not hide her frustration when asked about her message to the team to prevent that third period from happening again.

“I think I need to take a breath because I was pretty livid with the third,” Knight said. “But I think we can trust everybody in that room. It’s just critical plays of picking up a stick here, dropping coverage there, finding ourselves in the box when we shouldn’t be, just things like that. And so obviously it’s a game of minimizing mistakes, and you go back to the drawing board and look forward to St. Louis at this point.”

The Fleet return to action Saturday afternoon when they face off against the Ottawa Charge in the final game of the PWHL Takeover Tour. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. ET at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO, and you can find the game on NESN, GEM, the PWHL Youtube Channel, and thepwhl.com.