Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. ET | The Arena at TD Place
WATCH LIVE: TSN 3/5, TSN.ca, TSN App, NESN, PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International)
Daniella Ponticelli (Play-by-Play), Becky Kellar (Analyst), Kelly Greig (Reporter)
BOSTON FLEET
6-3-2-6 | 26 PTS | 4TH PLACE
Top Scorer: Hilary Knight – 17 GP, 8-8-16 PTS
Last Game: 4-1 W at NY on Feb. 17
OTTAWA CHARGE
6-0-3-8 | 21 PTS | 5TH PLACE
Top Scorer: Tereza Vanišová – 17 GP, 8-3-11 PTS
Last Game: 3-2 OTL vs. TOR (at Edmonton) on Feb. 16
2024-25 SEASON SERIES: BOSTON LEADS 5-1 IN POINTS (BOS WON 9-6 IN 2024)
Dec. 17 at BOS: 3-2 BOS | Jan. 11 at OTT: 2-1 BOS (OT) | Feb. 20 at OTT | Mar. 15 at OTT | Mar. 29 at BOS (ST. LOUIS) | Apr. 2 at BOS
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Five of the seven meetings between these teams have been decided by one goal, including both this season (both Fleet wins), and three of the last four have gone beyond regulation. Boston is 2-2-1-0 in those one-goal games against the Charge. The other two games were both decided by two goals, with one of those seeing a late empty netter providing the final margin.
Boston’s last win against Ottawa snapped a streak of five straight road losses to open the season. Including that OT victory, the Fleet have won three of their last five road games.
The Fleet are coming off a 4-1 win over New York on Monday and have scored four goals in back-to-back games for the first time ever. Boston has five games with at least four goals this season after doing so just twice last season. The Fleet are averaging 3.00 goals per game over their last seven games after averaging 2.00 in their first 10.
Boston has won consecutive games for the ninth time in regular-season history (five times last season, four this season) but are still searching for their first three-game win streak.
Hilary Knight scored twice and added an assist on Monday, resulting in her first three-point game in the PWHL and the second by a Fleet player this season (Alina Müller – 1G, 2A vs. Toronto on Jan. 22). Knight is one of three players with at least eight goals and eight assists this season, along with Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hannah Miller. Last season, six players reached those marks, but none of them were Boston players.
Ottawa fell to Toronto, 3-2, in overtime on Sunday in Edmonton. The Charge are now 0-3 in games decided beyond regulation this season, and 1-9 in such games over both PWHL seasons. Every other PWHL team has won at least six combined OT/SO games since last season, with multiple such wins in both seasons. Ottawa’s lone extra-time win came against Boston at TD place on Apr. 24, a 3-2 shootout decision.
Gabbie Hughes had a power-play goal and a power-play assist on Sunday, becoming the third Ottawa player to record one of each in the same game – Brianne Jenner and Aneta Tejralová did so in the same game last season, Mar. 10 at Montréal. Hughes, who earned PWHL First Star of the Week honours, now has three goals and two assists in her last two games – she had two points (both assists) in her first 14 games this season and is looking for her first three-game point streak.
Tereza Vanišová followed up her hat trick on Feb. 13 with another goal Sunday, assisted by Hughes and Emily Clark, the first assist for both of those players to Vanišová this season. The Czech forward has received assists from 10 different teammates this season, tied with Miller for most in the PWHL. Clark, for her part, is riding a three-game point streak (1G, 3A).
Emerance Maschmeyer and Gwyneth Philips have split the season series in goal for the Charge, while Aerin Frankel has started every game for Boston against Ottawa all-time. The Fleet netminder recently surpassed 1,000 career saves, with Maschmeyer (924 saves) next in line for the milestone.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“I’m proud of how our team battled through the New York game. We need to continue to do the small things that allow us to be successful.” - Fleet Head Coach Courtney Kessel.
“For us, the journey to get here and the different hurdles we’ve faced, it’s part of being a pro. If you’re part of the staff or the players, you just have to recognize you can’t let that catch up to you. In this delayed return to Ottawa, we just couldn’t wait to get back to TD Place. In our last game against Minnesota here, our fans were so present. They give us so much push in our game.” – Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod.
THURSDAY’S GAME: Tonight’s game caps a record 10 straight days of PWHL action played around the league. Sponsored by Scotiabank, it’s “Charge up the Rink” at TD Place with two performances of Ottawa’s own Jamie Fine, a Juno nominated artist, during the first and second intermissions from inside the Barber Shop. PWHL partner Royale is bringing The Inaugural Six – a striking work of art that was crafted with the very hockey sticks used in the PWHL’s first season – created by artist Briony Douglas to TD Place. The larger-than-life sculpture shaped into a hockey helmet, symbolizes the unity, strength, and resilience of the players. Fans can observe this unique piece of art beside Gate 2 tonight and Saturday. GoodLife Fitness will have a booth on the lower concourse and will be giving away $10,000 in free training. Fans can visit the Scotiabank kiosk outside Section 17 to have a commemorative PWHL patch pressed onto new merchandise purchased at the game.