NHL
“I feel a championship right here within the metropolis of Boston is instrumental to being part of that storied Boston legacy.”
LOWELL — It’s been 189 days since Hilary Knight and the remainder of her teammates took in cheers from a raucous Tsongas Heart crowd.
Boston’s PWHL squad has undergone some change since then.
After leaving the frozen sheet on Might 29 as “PWHL Boston”, they returned for his or her residence opener on Wednesday with a brand new identification — and sweaters, besides.
However the extra issues change, the extra they appear to stay the identical for the Boston Fleet.
Boston’s crisp new threads may sign a clear slate after a profitable (and frantic) first marketing campaign for a unified girls’s professional hockey league.
However a Fleet roster that includes most of the identical gamers from final yr’s run to the Walter Cup championship discovered itself in the same spot on Wednesday: leaving the Tsongas ice on the unsuitable facet of the scoresheet to the Minnesota Frost.
Regardless of one other stout efficiency in web from goalie Aerin Frankel (26 saves), Boston was unable to actual some revenge after final yr’s crushing outcome — with the Frost spoiling the Fleet’s residence opener in Lowell, 2-1.
It was a bitter tablet to swallow for Knight and the remainder of the Fleet, who — very like in final yr’s deciding Recreation 5 outcome — struggled to search out twine in their very own barn.
“We’ve received nice followers, and we actually wish to win in entrance of our followers and we got here up actually quick tonight,” Knight famous.
Knight was the lone Fleet skater who managed to resolve Frost netminder Maddie Rooney, with Boston’s scoring woes from final yr (a league-worst 50 objectives over 24 video games) carrying over to the Fleet’s 0-2 begin in 2024-25.
Whereas Knight has lit the lamp in each of Boston’s video games thus far, she’s been the group’s solely objective scorer (two in two video games) on the yr.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re not profitable video games, proper? So I feel it’s necessary that we discover the online extra, clearly,” Knight mentioned of her robust begin. “Enjoying a 60-minute sport is extra advantageous for us. … trying ahead to our subsequent alternative to play 60 minutes.”
To additional compound Boston’s woes, the Fleet misplaced Alina Muller — the group’s main scorer final season — within the closing minutes of the second interval after taking a success to the top from Minnesota’s Maggie Flaherty.
Muller didn’t return to the sport, with Fleet head coach Courtney Kessel noting postgame that the expert ahead remains to be being “evaluated”.
Flaherty was initially assessed a five-minute main penalty and sport misconduct for the hit on Muller. However after a prolonged evaluation, officers downgraded it to a two-minute minor penalty.
“They mentioned that it was Muller’s personal stick that hit her within the head,” Kessel mentioned of the ruling.
Boston’s struggles within the offensive zone as soon as hindered one other stout exhibiting from Frankel, who at the moment leads the PWHL with a stellar .941 save proportion.
“Simply taking it one shot at a time, that’s usually my mentality,” Frankel famous. “It’s an extended season, and every evening we’re going through actually good competitors. So attempt to not get too forward of myself, and simply take it one shot at a time, one interval at a time, and one sport at a time.”
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Frost received on the board at 7:25 within the second when Michela Cava’s shot bounced over Frankel and into the again of the online.
Knight secured the equalizer 4 minutes into the third — tipping a shot from Emily Brown previous Rooney to knot the sport up at 1-1.
However Minnesota answered 4 minutes later to take the lead for good, with Dominique Petrie redirecting a puck previous Frankel to make it a 2-1 contest.
Regardless of pulling Frankel with a little bit over two minutes to go in regulation, Boston may web generate any sustained offensive stress — with Frankel skating again to her web to show apart a shot simply seconds after initially leaving the crease for an additional skater.
Wednesday’s outcome did stunt among the momentum that Knight and her teammates had been seeking to carry into Boston’s residence opener.
However amid the frustrations rooted in one other tough outcome to Minnesota, Knight believes that the Fleet and the PWHL as a complete are able to construct off of final yr’s promise.
“I feel a reputation is a superb begin,” Knight mentioned of what she’s trying ahead to within the PWHL’s second season. “I feel the jersey, the colorways, simply constructing on an electrical begin from the primary yr. And, yeah, I feel a championship right here within the metropolis of Boston is instrumental to being part of that storied Boston legacy.”
Get the most recent Boston sports activities information
Obtain updates in your favourite Boston groups, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
