The Fleet took advantage of their opportunities and upset the league leaders.
The Fleet seem to have finally realized it if you shoot goals will come, to paraphrase Field of Dreams. Boston was clearly win the mindset that shooting needed to occur and scored early as a result. Hannah Bilk almost had her first goal when a shot off the post rebounded of the Sirens goalie but it was cleared off the line in the nick of time. Soon afterwards though the restructured top line was able to connect on a great Susanna Tapani shot that found its way past Corinne Schroeder. The penalty kill continued to shine as they were able to prevent New York from registering even a single shot on their first skater advantage. Later in the period the Boston defense fell asleep on the face-off allowing Alex Carpenter to have a clear lane to either shoot or pass to Paetyn Levis. She opted for the pass to a completely unmarked Levis who had an easy time slotting the puck into the back door, evening app the score. Boston would get a 5 on 3 PP and finally took advantage as Sydney Bard collected a rebound and made a terrific shot to regain the lead, while preserving the skater advantage for the next period.
The remainder of the advantage was petered away for Boston. Around the mid point Tapani took a cheap shot and retaliated, which was caught. She put Sarah Fillier into the bench via an open gate, this was initially called a major but was downgraded to a minor. Boston would follow up with an interference minor by Amanda Pelkey which set up another Siren equalizer, shortly after the Tapani penalty expired, by Abby Roque.
The strong penalty kill continued into the third which set up Boston’s Megan Keller to regain the lead once again quickly in the final frame. That lead would stand the test of the Sirens despite a slew roof penalties called on Boston including an incredibly soft call on Keller shortly after Bilka was taken out on an obvious trip that received no call. New York would rain shots on Frankel but she was up to the task and the rest of the penalty kills went a lot smoother for the Fleet. Keller was able to add an empty net goal to seal the victory and first points of the season for Boston.
Highlights:
Game Notes
- Shooting works. It’s pretty simple, if you shoot the puck you are able to score.
- Another good game from the goalies on both sides. Frankel was forced to make more spectacular saves in the losing effort.
- Credit where credit is due the penalty kill for Boston has been on point, more often then not either allowing no shots or even carrying play down a skater. Even the PP showed life taking advantage oof a two skater advantage.
- Frankel kept Boston in this game despite some lulls and showed why she is considered by many to be among the best if not the best in the world.
- Boston went with an extra defender instead of an extra attacker. It worked? Kessel earned some leeway with concerns over decisions with hat one.
- The team will get a week plus off as they will wrap up their home slate the next Tuesday as they take on Ottawa, leaving Montreal as their last opponent to be seen.