Boston showed once again why they're one of the PWHL's best as they closed Montreal's gap further in the league standings in Edmonton, a win that all but ended the Vancouver Goldeneyes' playoff hopes.
16 games up and 16 games down.
The 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour has come to an end, and the finale in Edmonton on Tuesday night, a 5-1 Boston Fleet win over Vancouver, puts them just a point behind Montreal for top spot in the league standings. At the same time, last night's loss all but ends the hopes of playoff hockey at Pacific Coliseum for the Vancouver Goldeneyes after dropping their third game in a row.
Jessie Eldridge's two goals and Abby Newhook's three points lead the way for the Fleet as a 2-0 first period, thanks to goals from Eldridge and the captain, Megan Keller, which would only be the start. Eldridge scored her second a little over three minutes into the second period, while Susanna Tapani and Jamie Lee Rattray also joined in on the scoresheet to make things 5-0 Fleet after 40 minutes.
Vancouver's lone answer came in the third, as Sophie Jaques broke Aerin Frankel's shutout streak that saw her make 97 straight saves over three games and two periods of workl. For Jaques, her eighth goal of the season set a new PWHL career high.
Special teams also stepped up for Boston in the win. While it was a parade of white jerseys to the penalty box, Boston remained perfect on the penalty kill.
First Win For Interim Coach Stefanie McKeough
Boston's win also gave acting head coach Stefanie McKeough her first win behind the Fleet bench, and in response, her team greeted her post-game with a water shower, which meant heading to the postgame press conference in a drenched blazer.
"I'm a stress sweater," said McKeough to chuckles in the room.
Wins away from home continue to be a theme for the Fleet, and McKeough gave credit to the entire staff and roster for being prepared to handle the road grind, especially late in the season.
"I think that's a testament to the entire group and the depth that we have. I think that's a testament to the entire group and the depth that we have. We can on any night maybe not know who's going to technically be number one. I think as coaches we trust everybody. I think, as teammates, they trust all of their teammates in big moments. I definitely think it's a testament to all of our staff," said McKeough. "We have team operations people, strength and conditioning coaches, and athletic trainers who spend time when we get to hotels late to make sure the athletes are getting treatment, and their bodies can recover well."
While the story was about offensive production, making sure things were strong defensively was big for Jessie Eldridge, as her team won their fifth game in a row.
"You get five (goals), that's really hard to do in this league, but the amount of pride everyone took in trying to protect the zero as well, there's a lot of character in that room, and we're just excited to keep it going." Said Eldridge.
Vancouver's Playoff Hopes All But Over
For Vancouver, on a night where a regulation win would have kept the door open to tracking down a playoff spot, much of the first two periods was spent trying to handle the Boston onslaught. Vancouver wasn't able to settle down until the third. Captain Ashton Bell she was glad her team was able to settle down, but pointed out that they needed a more complete effort.
"I think the message in the locker room, we all just took a breath and kinda regrouped, we knew we weren't proud of our first two periods," said Bell. "We wanted to come out in the third and win the period, and we did that, and we produced some offense as well. We made the shots even, it was a part of the group, and how we responded in the third, but definitely need to find a way to have a full 60-minute game."
For Goldeneyes' head coach Brian Idalski, getting back to Vancouver was the biggest thing for him and his team.
The Edmonton Takeover Tour game marked the final game of a road trip that lasted over two weeks for Vancouver, but also felt that the overall travel for both Vancouver and Seattle has had an impact on their first seasons in the league.
"It takes a toll, and we're still figuring out what that looks like and what that impact is. Quite honestly, a lot of players were playing some pretty heavy minutes because those were must-win games for us, so we were doing everything in our power to try to win those games," Idalski said. "It would be one thing if one of the expansion teams was killing it. We're both struggling. There's something that with the travel and us going back and forth that's happening to our bodies, and we need to learn how to manage that better."
And what about the crowd? 10,794 fans filed into Rogers Place, an improvement on the 10,264 fans from this past December's Frost-Goldeneyes game, which did take place on one of the coldest days of the year in the city to end 2025.
The Fleet have a lot to be happy about after Tuesday's win, while the Goldeneyes look to regroup back in Vancouver. When it comes to Edmonton, we'll learn soon enough if this market has done enough to gain a PWHL franchise next season.