There's still a lot to play for on Tuesday night in Edmonton as the Vancouver Goldeneyes chase down a playoff spot while the Boston Fleet try to push their win streak to five in a row.
Tuesday marks the final game of the 2025-26 edition of the PWHL Takeover Tour with its final stop in Edmonton as Boston squares off against Vancouver. For the Fleet its a chance to keep momentum going, while a Goldeneyes regulation win helps keep their season alive, even with a few teams they'll need to leapfrog.
Life is good for a Boston team that is currently holding down the second seed in the PWHL as they roll into Edmonton on a four game win streak, one that has been headlined by the continued stellar play of Aerin Frankel in net.
In their past four games the Fleet have only allowed two goals with Frankel recording three straight shutouts, while Amanda Thiele was in net for the Fleet's 4-2 win over Toronto on March 29. Frankel's seven shutouts this season lead the league and her goals against average of 1.17 sits only behind Montreal's Ann-Renee Desbiens mark of 1.14.
For Fleet acting head coach Stefanie McKeough, who met with the media after Monday's practice, she's been able to see Frankel's dedication pay off.
"We're talking about it because I'm obviously a little bit biased, but I've had the privilege of coaching her the last three seasons, and I was like, I always feel she wasn't getting the credit she deserved, and I was like her numbers in year one were just as good," said McKeough.
"We were looking it up, and actually, she's even better this year. It's just a testament, one to Aerin Frankel and how hard she works and her commitment to being one of the best goalies in the world, and two, these athletes having a platform to get better every day. It's not, you know, do I have a goalie coach and some shooters that can shoot on me? I gotta push myself to find ice and practice, so I'm ready for the Olympics every four years. It's really cool to see the trajectory of them improve every day because they have a platform like the PWHL."
Fleet Continue Moving Forward
As a collective, finding ways to win on the road has been a strength of the Fleet. Their seven wins away from Massachusetts are a byproduct of this team finding a way to put together the lessons they've learned throughout the season.
"It's been a real reflection of the entire year, from the moment we started in training camp. Coach (Kris) Sparre set a tone, and it's been about details, it's been about habits, and it's been about working hard and having a pace, and we try to match a game pace in practice if not match it a little bit more," said McKeough.
On the Vancouver side of things, being an expansion team has been an adventure, and while the Goldeneyes have near-zero room for error with five games to go while sitting at 27 points, head coach Brian Idalski feels his team has been finding ways to make up for a slow start.
"I think the message is the same, we've been playing pretty good hockey, when we play the right way, we give ourselves a chance to win and take points," he said. "We've been doing that the last month, we just feel like if we like had we started that earlier in November, we'd be in pretty good shape."
Vancouver In A Must-Win Situation
No matter the results, Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques have been shining lights for the Goldeneyes this season, leading Vancouver in scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Letting both of his blueliners thrive offensively was something that Idalski knew would be vital for success this season.
"You knew coming into the year that you were going to have to give some room to players like that to do their thing and be involved in the offence and join the rush and be active," said Idalski. "They've produced for us, there's no doubt about that, and hopefully they continue to do so down the stretch."
Edmonton's final PWHL taste of 2025-26 also gives the city an early glimpse of the league's playoff race that hopefully one day could be permanent in the market.