Takeaways: Sidney Morin Powers Fleet to 2-1 Victory in Road Trip Finale

After a long, difficult road trip, the Boston Fleet traveled to Ottawa on Saturday to face a streaking Charge club in their road trip finale. With the odds against them, they pulled off a gusty overtime win on the back of two Sidney Morin goals to head home on a high note.

Goal Rundown

Just as a Hannah Brandt penalty expired, Jocelyne Larocque fired a slapshot on goal from the point. It deflected off Victoria Bach and past Aerin Frankel to give the Charge a 1-0 lead only 6:48 into the first period. It was Bach's first goal and Larocque's first point since joining Ottawa after a blockbuster trade on December 30.

With just over four minutes remaining in the period, Gwyneth Phillips thought she had the puck sealed, but the Fleet never gave up. Eventually, Sidney Morin netted her first of the season, while Jessica DiGirolamo and Alina Müller picked up their first points of the season with the assists.

That was it for regulation scoring, and the Fleet headed to overtime for the fourth straight game. 1:45 into the extra frame, Morin sniped a shot through a screen and past Phillips to secure her team the extra point.

In goal, Frankel made 20 saves for the win, while Phillips made 19 in the loss.

Takeaways

1. A tired Fleet team pulled out a gutsy win.

The odds were not in Boston’s favor heading into this game. This was their third game in six days, and the Charge had played just one back on Tuesday. Ottawa was also on a hot streak with three straight regulation wins while the Fleet had earned just four points in their past three. It had all the makings of capping a tough road trip off on a bad note, but instead, the Fleet dug deep and pulled off one of their gustiest wins of the season. It would’ve been nicer to get the full three points, but considering the circumstances, it’s hard to complain too much.

Boston head coach Courtney Kessel was also pleased with her team for grinding out the win.

“I don’t think we really tested Phillips as much as we’d like to, but you know what, we’ve been on the road since December 26," Kessel said. "So I think we knew today was going to be a little bit of a grind. I was really proud of the players to leave it all out there on the ice for each other.”

2. The scoring and shots were low, but the goaltenders were excellent.

On the scoresheet, this was a low-event game with just three goals and a combined 42 shots. However, Frankel and Phillips still deserve a lot of credit. Frankel has undoubtedly been the Fleet’s MVP this season, and she reminded people why with numerous big saves in her eighth start. No goaltender has played more this season or faced more shots, and the Fleet continue to rely on her to keep them in games. At the other end, Phillips made just her second start today since Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer is having an MVP season of her own, but she made it count. It’s not easy to go from playing a starter’s workload at Northeastern to only playing every few weeks in an even more difficult lead, but she seems to be handling it well. 

3. Morin led the charge offensively, while Müller finally got on the board.

Sidney Morin is not usually a flashy player. She quietly does her job, and that's all you can really need in a player who is typically on your third pair. However, against Ottawa, she showed why the Fleet trusted her all over the lineup last season. Not only did she score the only two goals, but she led the team with five shots in 16:57 of ice time, trailing only Boston's first line and top defense pair. In games where you don't have a lot in the tank, you need players like Morin to step up, and that's just what she did.

Another player made an important step offensively in this game. It took 10 games, but Müller finally found the scoresheet for the first time this season after leading the Fleet in points last year with 16 in 24 regular season games. It was only a secondary assist on a bit of a weird goal, but it’s something. The Fleet desperately need her to get going, so with the monkey now off her back, hopefully, this is the start of her offensive rebound.

4. Mercifully, the road trip ends.

After six games across three time zones in 14 days, the Fleet’s mega road trip has finally come to a close. The trip started with a whimper after Boston dropped the first two in regulation, but they salvaged it with points in their final four. It’s far from ideal to go six games without a regulation win and only bank six of 18 possible points, but they cleaned things up as the trip wore on. It's something to build on, and now they get to go home, rest, and practice before their next game on the 22nd.

“I think we’ve been strong defensively and we’ve had our chances up front as well," Morin said after the game. "So, I think it’s [the win] really good for the momentum of us and just having a good mindset here in the break and just taking care of our bodies, getting our minds right, and getting ready to battle again when we get back to Boston.”

The Fleet return to action on January 22 when they take on the Toronto Sceptres at home. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA, and you can find the game on NESN, TSN, the PWHL YouTube Channel, and thepwhl.com.