The Boston Fleet took on the New York Sirens in the 6th game (out of 9 total) of the PWHL Takeover Tour that started in Seattle in early January. Yesterday afternoon’s game was held in Buffalo and the teams squared off at the KeyBank Center (aka the home of the Buffalo Sabres). It took all of OT and all of a shootout to decide this one, but when the teams finally finished up, it was the Fleet prevailing 3-2 to keep their record against the Sirens perfect on the season.
In net it was Aerin Frankel for the Fleet and Kayle Osborne for the Sirens. Frankel has been perfect against the Sirens this year and is now leading the PWHL in wins with 10 on the season. Osborne has been great when she gets on the ice, but it’s tough to get ice time as a rookie with the goaltending stable that the Sirens have.
Sarah Fillier got the scoring started when she converted a BOS turnover deep in the Fleet zone and went bar down past Frankel in the first 2 minutes of game play. Ella Shelton knocked the puck loose to Fillier who was busting down the slot and she took 3 strides and unloaded. Snipe city. An absolute monster of a forecheck from Shelton to initiate the play.
The lead held for about 4mins before BOS tied it up off the stick of Loren Gabel. Sidney Morin put it right on the Gabel’s tape and she carried into the NY zone on her backhand, and that’s when she dropped the shifter and hit another gear. Gabel dusted the backchecker before skating right and beaming a laser left and beat Osborne over the glove to tie the game.
It looked like the teams would retire to their rooms knotted at 1, but NY had other plans. Another heavy forecheck resulted in another BOS turnover deep and boy oh boy, was Jessie Eldridge playing the body down low. She fed Abby Roque at the inside of the LW circle and Roque drove the net putting a shot on Frankel moving across the crease. Frankel made the initial save (or two) before Eldridge followed up the rebound and put it over the sprawled out Boston netminder. Say it with me: Good things happen when you go to the net.
In the middle frame the physicality and pace ticked up a notch. It was to be expected as these 2 teams set a PWHL record for PIM’s in a late January tilt at the Tsongas Center. And, just like the first period, this one looked like it was going the horn unchanged on the scoreboard.
And then it wasn’t. A late power play for the Fleet saw Osborne make a number of saves, including 2 successive saves with her right pad moving left to right. The 2nd save rebounded to Amanda Pelkey at the bottom of the LW circle and she gathered it in on her backhand and dragged it back to her forehand before putting it home for her first of the season. Tie game.
In the 3rd the game was fairly even in terms of chances and zone time, but I would give the edge to BOS based on gaining momentum from a late power play. Both Frankel and Osborne shut the door as neither side could get the go-ahead.
In OT it was a goalie duel. Save for save, chance after chance it looked like they were competing with each other to see who would blink first. Alina Müller had the best chance for BOS in OT but was denied by Osborne, and NY was off to the races with their own chance but… Frankel. (and I’m not even sure that this save was her best from the overtime period)
At the end of bonus hockey, it was time for the shootout.
Boston: Hannah Brandt – off the post ❌
New York: Noora Tulus – leg save Frankel ❌
Boston: Susanna Tapani – you know what’s going to happen right?
Wrister off the post and in ✔️
New York: Alex Carpenter – Frankel comes out and makes save off the body ❌
Boston: Hilary Knight gets denied by Osborne ❌
New York: Sarah Fillier loses the handle and the puck trickles wide ❌
Boston: Alina Müller takes the wide approach and her forehand gets blockered aside ❌
New York: Jessie Eldridge tries to outwait Frankel but no dice as Frankel gets left pad save ❌
Boston: Tapani again. Fakes to backhand but Osborne denies her at the post ❌
New York: Abby Roque tries to beat Frankel on the backhand but no dice ❌
That’s 4 straight dubs for the Fleet and 7 straight losses for the Sirens. Both teams will head across the border as the Sirens take on the Ottawa Charge on Wednesday night and the Fleet will travel to Montreal for a matinee with the Victoire on Saturday.
Also keep your head on a swivel as rumors are swirling about an announcement forthcoming about expansion for the PWHL. At this point it seems like an inevitability, and the big question remains WHEN? Will it be only 2 new teams? Where will the teams be located? If this Takeover Tour has proved anything, it’s that there is a real market for the women’s game in both Canada and the US.
If you’ve read this far, I ask you to keep reading for a quick paragraph. If you love the women’s game (and if you’re reading this, I’d assume that you do) keep an eye out for a new podcast that I’m getting going with Linda Lundrigan and Kelly Dyer Hayes (watch your feet cause I’m dropping some names) we’re going to cover the women’s game on a (hopefully) weekly basis at all levels. Look for Breaking the Glass Hockey Podcast coming to you soon!
And we are on all socials: @BTGHockeyPod
You can read more about Brownie in his bio down below or follow him:
Twitter: @abrow28
IG/Threads: @a_brow28
Bluesky: @abrow28.bsky.social
The Morning Skate 