The Boston Fleet remain one of the surprise success stories this season in the PWHL, and special teams have been key to maintaining top spot in the standings for Boston.
Nine penalties, six regulation goals, and eight rounds of shootout later, the Boston Fleet beat the New York Sirens 4-3 on Wednesday. 4,697 fans showed up to watch the two teams battle.
The Fleet’s special teams were put to the test early: 33 seconds into the game, the Sirens' power-play unit went up 5-3. Two early Fleet penalties, one for hooking and one for cross-checking, forced the Fleet penalty kill to get to work right away.
The Fleet’s penalty kill was able to hold off the Sirens' offense for the duration of the first two penalties.
The Sirens then gave the Fleet a player-up advantage when Kristýna Kaltounková headed to the box for roughing. As a result, the first goal of the game came within ten minutes of the first period.
Fleet rookie Abby Newhook scored on a power play, recording her second career power play goal and fourth goal of the season.
The power play goal from Newhook marked the first player since December 7th, other than Megan Keller, to score a power play goal for the Fleet. Following the game, head coach Kris Sparre spoke about Newhook’s goal.
“Adjusting is the important thing. If you're a one-trick pony on the power play, it'd be easy to shut down. Keller's scored some really great goals for us on the power play, but within that set, there are multiple options, and you saw another one of them tonight, where we find Abby on the back post and end up scoring that goal.”
In the second period, the Fleet were outscored 2-0. Kristin O'Neillscored the Sirens' first goal of the night on a power play, getting through the Fleet penalty kill team.
The goal marked only the second goal the Fleet’s penalty kill team has let up this season. Following the game, Sirens head coach Greg Fargo spoke about the method for getting one past the Fleet’s strong penalty-killing team.
“Frankly, it was a shot that got through with some traffic, and we're able to bang over rebound and get to a second pocket,” Fargo said. “It's not that complicated. I think they have great habits on the penalty kill. They're a really structured team. They're a tough team to play. But in that moment, I think our power play did a great job to find a way to break through it.”
The scoring wasn’t done there; another goal came towards the end of the period, this time from rookie Kristýna Kaltounková.
The second period was scoreless for the Fleet despite a penalty shot being awarded to Ella Huber. Huber, who was unable to connect on her backhand to get the shot into the net. The penalty marked the second penalty shot taken on Kayle Osborne, the third penalty shot in the league this season, and the first ever Fleet penalty shot in franchise history.
Heading into the third period, the Fleet trailed on home ice 2-1. The Fleet team has found success at home, losing only two games there this season.
The team didn’t trail the Sirens for long. Liz Schepers wasted no time tying the game in the third period, getting a quick shot off a pass from Theresa Schafzahl.
The game went back and forth from there. Jamie Lee Rattray scored for the Fleet, giving them a 3-2 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game. Then rookie Kristýna Kaltounková netted her second of the night to tie the game with six minutes to go.
The second goal of the night pushed Kaltounkova to the top of the league in goals scored this season, with 11.
A late penalty from Zoe Boyd threatened to end the game, but the Fleet’s penalty kill survived into overtime.
“We had some big kills tonight,” Sparre said. “I think where our penalty kill has been successful is we've done a good job of winning face-offs. To get that original clear, that's number one. The second thing is, we don't allow teams to just set up, so we pressure everywhere. You can visibly see it on the ice. We don't let you off the hook. And you know you really got to hurt on that offense to be able to get set up in zone and have us back off.”
The team headed into overtime, where they killed off another penalty, this time a tripping call on Jamie Lee Rattray.
The game ended in eight rounds of shootouts, with Alina Muller scoring two goals in a row against Osborne.
Aerin Frankel stopped 30 of the 33 shots she faced. Following the game, she gave credit to the penalty kill unit.
“Anytime you can kill penalties off, especially that early in the game and a five-on-three, it gives you momentum moving forward, and we did a great job,” Frankel said. “Our penalty goal has been very good this season, and we're doing a good job blocking the shots. I think that helped us get momentum throughout the game and build confidence. Now we know we can handle the five-on-three situation.”
The Fleet will now pause for the Olympic Break. The team will return to action on Saturday, February 28th, when they face the Ottawa Charge.