LOWELL — If first-year bench boss Kris Sparre and the Boston Fleet are in search of a profitable blueprint, Sunday’s Skilled Girls’s Hockey League season opener serves as a promising paradigm.
Boston scored first, obtained sturdy goaltending and performed a structured and easy recreation to skate to a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Victoire in entrance of an excited crowd of 5,166 on the Tsongas Heart to open a season clouded with uncertainty within the win column.
“I thought we started really, really well,” Sparre stated. “We had good energy in the first period, I thought they pushed back in the second and I liked how we responded in the third. It was a gutsy team effort.”
The spectacular victory got here in opposition to a star-driven Montreal lineup that boasts reigning league MVP Marie-Philip Poulin and Goaltender of the Yr Ann-Renée Desbiens.
However a new-look Fleet crew emerged as the higher squad on Sunday, as Aerin Frankel’s 25 saves and tallies from Susanna Tapani and Megan Keller had been all Boston wanted to earn three factors. The Fleet will play 10 video games earlier than returning to the Tsongas Heart on Jan. 14.
“Honestly, I think it’s a lot more aggressive, a lot more in your face hockey,” Keller stated. “We don’t really want to give them an inch out there. So a lot of fun to play that way.”
In what was maybe the one missing space of Boston’s recreation broke by means of within the third interval when the Fleet transformed its first energy play try of the sport to report a pivotal second objective and double its result in 2-0.
The Fleet had been 0-for-4 with the participant benefit earlier than Keller, the brand new crew captain, discovered twine simply 1:42 into the third. Keller unleashed two pictures in a salvo of alternatives earlier than discovering a unfastened puck within the slot and sending it into the open objective.
In all, Boston was 1-for-6 with the additional attacker in a recreation mired with Montreal penalties.
However the Fleet’s early-season particular groups woes didn’t damage them with Frankel between the pipes. Boston’s franchise goaltender was glorious in her season debut — making 10 saves within the center body to maintain Montreal off the board in a one-goal recreation — highlighted by a desperation diving save on a blistering one-timer from Poulin.
Frankel led the PWHL in begins (23) and saves (591) final season and was a finalist for Goaltender of the Yr.
“I’m just excited that we got our first win at home in front of all these fans,” Frankel stated. “It feels good. I felt like I was seeing the puck well, but the players really helped me out tonight.”
The Fleet solved Desbiens simply 1:13 into motion. Getting into the attacking zone on a clear defensive zone breakout, Jamie Lee Rattray skated over the blue line and located Tapani flying down the left aspect of the ice. Tapani launched a shot slightly below the left faceoff dot that Desbiens initially stopped, however the rebound ricocheted off a Montreal defender within the blue paint and into the again of the online.
Fleet normal supervisor Danielle Marmer raved about Tapani throughout a preseason media availability final week and dubbed her a high 10 participant within the league. The veteran lived as much as that billing on Sunday. She led Boston in pictures (three) within the first interval and created scoring probabilities for Boston all recreation.
Tapani was third in crew scoring final season (11-7-18).
“The thing that kind of goes unnoticed with her is how competitive she is,” Sparre stated of Tapani. “When I watched her game in the summer, I’m like, ‘This is someone who really cares and competes for pucks and 50/50 pucks and tracks back hard and plays a defensive style.’ And I don’t know if she gets enough credit for that.”
Elsewhere, rookie Haley Winn was top-of-the-line gamers on the ice in her debut. The Clarkson product and second general draft selection led all skaters in pictures (six) and confirmed flashes of her elite two-way recreation. Tapani deflected considered one of her pictures from the purpose within the first that almost lit the lamp.
Sparre was simply as impressed along with her defensive play.
“Haley is certainly special,” Sparre stated. “Again, you talk about what players get credit for, you look up and you see the player that’s dynamic and skating and shooting the puck and making amazing plays out there. But again, you don’t get credit maybe for the defensive side. And I thought every time she was out there tonight against their top line, she did a really good job shutting them down.”
