BOSTON — Shay Maloney ignited an offensive explosion for the Boston Fleet, scoring the first of a season-high four goals as the hosts dominated the Minnesota Frost 4-1 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place in front of a crowd of 5,338 fans at Agganis Arena.
Maloney and team captain Megan Keller scored just 1 minute and 14 seconds apart late in the first period, giving first-place Boston (4-0, 12 points) an early 2-0 lead.
Minnesota (2-2, six points) responded early in the second period when Klára Hymlárová cut the deficit in half, assisted by Claire Butorac and Peyton Anderson. It was Hymlárová’s first goal of the season. However, that momentum was short-lived.
Rookie Abby Newhook quickly restored Boston’s two-goal advantage with her third goal of the season, a power-play marker just 49 seconds after Hymlárová’s score, pushing the Fleet ahead 3-1. Theresa Schafzahl sealed the victory for Boston with another power-play goal early in the third period.
“I felt like their pressure all over the ice, the first pressure F1 and the secondary pressure, was really good,” said Frost defender Lee Stecklein. “Obviously, they did that last year too; it just felt really consistent today.”
The Fleet’s goaltender Aerin Frankel turned aside a season-high 26 shots to earn her league-leading fourth victory. On the other side, Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney also set a personal best with 31 saves.
Boston head coach Kris Sparre praised the intensity and organization of both teams: “I thought that was probably the highest pace game that we’ve played so far. We knew going into this game that it was going to take everybody. That’s a very organized group over there in Minnesota, and you can see why they’ve had a lot of success in this league so far.
“Credit to our group. I thought we hung in there and felt like we played a pretty tidy game. Our group is pretty reset from last year. We’re focusing on what we have now, and we feel like we’re a completely new team.”
The loss snapped Minnesota’s season-opening two-game road winning streak, as the Frost played their third consecutive road contest early in the season.
“We started off hot, and I think we just want to be better on our power play and scoring on those chances,” said Frost assistant coach Brianna Decker. “And on the back side of that, the PK (penalty kill) gets cleaned up as well because obviously we have them in the next game.”
Minnesota will next face Boston at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on December 19, following a near two-week international break in the PWHL schedule.
https://www.wadenapj.com/sports/pro/fleets-offensive-surge-halts-frosts-road-winning-streak
Be First to Comment