Coming into tonight’s Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game at the Prudential Center in Newark, the visiting Boston Fleet had recently become the first team in PWHL history to win each of their first four games of a season. This was each team’s first game since last week’s international break and the Sirens were looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
Behind 33 saves from All-Star goalie Aerin Frankel, the Fleet extended their winning streak against the Sirens to eight (longest against one team in PWHL history) and shut out the home side 2-0 Wednesday.
Frankel set the tone early on by stopping a shot from Micah Zandee-Hart that had been tipped from the ice to her chest protector. Frankel’s counterpart Kayle Osborne stopped a one-timer taken by Alina Müller that was slowed down by a stick check on a penalty kill about halfway through the period.
Each team took eight shots on goal in the opening frame, and things were tight-checking and physical. The physicality continued in the second period. Sirens’ defenseman Allyson Simpson and Boston forward Ella Huber each took coincidental roughing penalties one minute in.
But five minutes into the second period, the Sirens didn’t check as tightly as they needed to and Huber skated in down the wing and roofed a wrist shot past Osborne short-side to give the visitors the first lead of the game.
Seven minutes into the period, Sirens’ defenseman Lauren Bernard made an indirect pass to Anne Cherkowski in the neutral zone. Cherkowski entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Kristýna Kaltounková and took a wrist shot towards the far side but was denied by Frankel.
Halfway through the period, Boston extended its lead. The Fleet dumped the puck into New York’s end, won it back and passed up to defenseman Megan Keller, who took a shot that hit the post. The puck bounced back to the front of the net where Jamie Lee Rattray took a whack at it. That shot was smothered by Osborne but then it squirted out to Liz Schepers who then scored to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
Three minutes after that, the game got even more physical and even a major scrum broke out after Sirens’ center Kristin O’Neill whacked at a rebound in front of Boston’s net. Rattray and Simpson earned coincidental minors for roughing and the two teams remained five-aside.
Greg Fargo’s Sirens barraged Frankel at the end of the second period with hard shots by Kaltounková and Sarah Fillier but the Fleet’s netminder was equal to both challenges. Heading into the second intermission, the home side held a sizable 21-14 shot advantage.
It looked like the Sirens would finally get on the board early in the third period, but Sarah Fillier’s breakaway was thwarted by a strong backcheck from a Boston player. Shortly after, Boston’s Sophie Shirley laid a massive hit on New York’s Emmy Fecteau by the benches but was given a two-minute minor for boarding. On the ensuing power play, O’Neill managed to get a shot on goal from the slot with 15 minutes left but was denied by Frankel.
For the remainder of the period, the game was a stalemate, except for two grade-A scoring chances for the Sirens. When Boston’s Riley Brengman took a delay of game penalty for flipping the puck over the glass with six minutes left, the Sirens were given their fourth power play. On the first chance, O’Neill received a pass in the slot and took a quick wrister that was stopped by Frankel. Then, Casey O’Brien fought through a check below the goal-line inside Boston’s end and made a centering pass to O’Neill who was at the near post. O’Neill then dragged the puck across the face of goal, but Frankel stretched out her pad and stopped the Sirens once again.
This summed up the evening for Fargo’s team as they had plenty of opportunities to score but couldn’t find a way to outfox the PWHL’s leader in wins (5), save percentage (SV%) and goals-against-average (GAA) by a goalie.
After the game, Fargo went into detail about the way the Sirens were their own worst enemies tonight.
There were a lot of good moments tonight where we had some quality looks throughout the game. I thought we had a good amount of offensive zone time where we had them on the ropes and tired. However, I think maybe we let them off the hook a little bit a few times where [our offense] was able to give her one that she can easily see and control the game while their shift was extended, and they were tired. In some other areas, we missed opportunities but there were a lot of great things. We had some great chances, and I thought Aerin played a great game once again.
On the other hand, the rookie head coach of the Boston Fleet described what’s contributed to his team’s early success this season.
What I’m most grateful for is the players. As a coach, you put together systems, you put together an identity and you want to have standards that you uphold every day. Our group right from day one has taken ownership of that and they bring it every practice, every game. It’s not always perfect, but they find a way to get it done.
This loss bumped the Sirens from third to seventh place in the PWHL standings. Digging even deeper shows that Fargo’s team have not scored a goal in their previous eight periods. New York will stay home for their next game on December 21 at 12 p.m. against the Toronto Sceptres, who they have not faced yet this season.
