Your Boston Fleet welcomed in the New York Sirens Friday night, skating to a 3-2 shootout win in front of a sell out crowd full of hardy fans not afraid of some foul New England weather. The Tsongas Center in Lowell was bumping; from the opening draw until the final save in the shootout the fans were on their feet and supporting the home squad. There was plenty to cheer (and boo) about as the teams combined for the most PIM’s in a regular season game in the league’s history.
It was fast, physical and in your face hockey as the sides skated to the first intermission knotted at gooses…. almost. Friend of the podcast, Alina Müller notched the Fleet’s first jailbreak goal of the season when she beat NY goalie Corrine Schroeder 5-hole with less than 20 seconds to play in the opening frame. Müller swiped the puck off a Siren’s blade clean and raced to the NY net with Sarah Fillier chasing. Müller kept the puck on her backhand (one-handed!) while using her body to shield the puck/block Fillier before tucking it home on the forehand. What a sequence!
That score held until the early going in the 3rd, as the 2nd was filled with body contact and a goalie’s duel between Schroeder and The Green Mon-Stah aka Aerin Frankel. Both goalies were very sharp with Schroederl getting the heavier workload through 2 as BOS outshout NY by a 2:1 margin.
In the opening minutes of the 3rd, Hannah Bilka doubled up the score for the Fleet. Hilary Knight dug the puck out of the RW corner and found Bilka below the RW circle. Bilka carried up the zone and dished to Megan Keller at the left point. Keller slid down the wall and gave it back to Bilka high and then it was all up to the rookie. Bilka dropped into the top of the LW circle and threaded a shot through a forest far-side. Absolute filth.
And then… Ella Shelton entered the chat. Fillier carried the puck into the BOS zone and put a shot on net from the RW into a crowd. Frankel made the initial save, but Shelton crashed the net and tucked home the rebound surrounded by 3 BOS defenders.
(The video on the left below)
Then with the goalie pulled, the Sirens had possession in the Fleet zone and knotted it up with about 2 minutes to play. Taylor Girard (remember her?) put a shot on net from the right point and the puck caromed up in the air and came down to Abby Roque on the left half wall. Roque sold shot before laying a perfect seam pass to Shelton who was all alone at the inside of the RW circle.
(The video on the right above)
60 minutes didn’t get this one resolved, so maybe 65 minutes will do it? The teams played 3v3 for an extra 5mins but despite having chances, neither team could get it done. It’s time for the shootout.
Boston elected to shoot first in the shootout:
Fleet Alina Müller – score
Sirens Noora Tulus – no score
Fleet Hilary Knight – score
Sirens Ella Shelton – no score
Fleet Susanna Tapani – no score
Sirens Jessie Eldridge – no score
Fleet Hilary Knight – no score
Sirens Abby Roque – no score
Video below shows Knight’s goal and Frankel’s save on Roque (who loved playing the villain)
Some observations from around the rink:
- Aerin Frankel became the first PWHL goalie to 1000 saves. Stick taps
- This was the Fleet’s 4th straight win at The Tsongas Center
- Hope NY’s Alex Carpenter is ok. She left the game after taking a puck up high late in the first and didn’t return.
- Hannah Bilka was definitely getting physically targeted and was giving it back pretty good.
- Good to see that the NY vs. BOS rivalry extends to the PWHL too
And for my last point: I want to say that we went as a family last night and what a great experience. The pace of play is fantastic, the atmosphere is electric and it’s a family friendly atmosphere. Ok, now come the complaints. It’s no fault of the Fleet or the PWHL but the traffic/parking at the Tsongas Center is ridiculous. Over 30mins to go less than 2 miles is unacceptable and the parking lots/garages are woefully underwhelming. Even with a number of police out front waving cars through the lights and doing their best to keep it moving, it was a cluster. The sight lines at the rink are great, the staff at all points of customer contact are attentive, patient and kind but it all pales to the absolute white knuckle rage you feel trying to navigate the traffic pattern and parking.
And now the last last point: to whomever is in charge of running the PWHL social media accounts. Please please please put more clips available. We’re all trying to elevate the league, and we need goals, saves, scrums, hits – all phases of game play to be available on line to share and promote. 8 attempts (and 2 scores) on the shootout and the only plays made available were one goal and the final save??? Not a single clip of either goalies’ saves from game play? Maybe the scrum in front of Frankel where she got in a player’s face and Knight got involved?
I get it, it’s probably a thankless job posting clips and cutting them up and putting them on social media. But, if EVERY SINGLE D1 PROGRAM CAN DO IT I would think that the PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE should be able to figure it out.
The Sirens play tomorrow afternoon vs. Montreal, whereas the Fleet are off until these 2 teams face-off in New Jersey on Feb 12 after the break.
You can read more about Brownie in his bio down below or follow him on:
Bluesky: @abrow28.bsky.social
IG/Threads: @a_brow28
Twitter: @abrow28
The Morning Skate 