The Montreal Victoire bested the Boston Fleet in the sold-out TD Garden game, the first time the PWHL has been at the Boston arena.
The Montreal Victoire took the win at the first ever PWHL game hosted at TD Garden in front of a crowd of 17,850. While both teams have clinched a spot in the Walter Cup playoffs, Montreal now leads Boston by 4 points in the PWHL standings, and both head coaches noted that play at the Garden matched that of a playoff game.
Much like the Madison Square Garden game a week prior, which set the U.S. record for women's professional hockey attendance, big names from Boston Celtic Derrick White to former Bruins Patrice Bergeron were showing support for the league. Zdeno Chara dropped the ceremonial puck and Ksenia Daniela Kharkamova, who plays Svetlana in “Heated Rivalry” and viral lookalikes of actors Hudson Williams and Conor Storrie also made appearances.
"The buzz around women's hockey and around our league and every venue we're going into, it's loud and the seats are filled, and fans are passionate. So it's an exciting time for us," defender Megan Keller said post-game.
The sold-out game shows potential for more TD games in the future. "I think the fans really brought it tonight, and if we had the opportunity to play here more, we’d certainly welcome that," head coach Kris Sparre said.
The Fleet started slow and the chippiness of the game got ahead of the team at points but Montreal was only able to make one goal stick. Neither team was able to level a tremendous amount of shots, with Ann-Renée Desbiens and Aerin Frankel taking 20 and 19 saves, respectively.
The first period finished scoreless, both Montreal and Boston notching six shots on goal. The game was chippy, as expected. There were 13 hits in the first period and four roughing penalties by the second. After 40 minutes, Montreal led 15 to 11 in shots. Boston's special teams weren't able to make the necessary impact and take advantage of the five power plays throughout the tournament. Fists flew throughout the game, setting the Fleet further off balance.
"I thought there was a lot of chaos tonight," Keller said, "and that's just how it was, and as a group just managing that down the line here, especially heading into playoffs, just focusing on each shift and what we can do and bring as a group."
Fleet forward Loren Gobal attempted a shot on a one-on-one at 1:37 in but Boston wasn’t able to find the net. The Fleet were finding more chances in the third but couldn't capitalize.
At five minutes into the third period, Laura Stacey came in from the left and passed to Lina Ljungblom in the slot, who shot to Aerin Frankel's right for the first goal of the game. It sealed the deal for the deflated Boston team struggling to find the net.
The Fleet pulled Frankel in the final two minutes for an additional attacker, but came up empty after four shots.
"[A] big takeaway is being able to play under that type of pressure. And when every fan or it felt like every fan in the building wasn't cheering for you," head coach Kori Cheverie said of the win.
The teams will almost certainly face off in the real playoffs, but tonight served as an important warm-up.
"The more moments we have like that of proof and evidence that in those big moments that everybody can contribute, everyone can play a role in those moments," Cheverie said.