BUFFALO, NY (February 23, 2025) – Susanna Tapani scored the shootout winner, as Boston came out victorious over New York in the sixth game of the PWHL Takeover Tour ™ game, in Buffalo at KeyBank Center on Sunday. With the victory, the Fleet extended their winning streak to four games, while the Sirens' losing streak stretched to seven. New York struck first early in the opening period when Sarah Fillier scored to make it 1-0. Just over four minutes later, the Fleet responded with a goal from Loren Gabel, her second of the season. With a minute left in the first, Jessie Eldridge restored New York’s lead with her sixth goal of the season. Boston tied the game late in the second period when Amanda Pelkey netted her first of the season, sending the game into the third tied 2-2.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, Tapani netted the only goal of the shootout to seal the win for Boston. Aerin Frankel made 37 saves on 39 shots to earn her tenth win of the season, while Kayle Osborne stopped 30 shots in the loss.
The game marked New York’s first appearance in the Takeover Tour ™, while Boston played its second, following a matchup against Montréal in Seattle on Jan. 5. The Fleet have now won all five meetings against New York this season and sit third in the standings behind Toronto and Montréal.
QUOTES
Fleet Head Coach Courtney Kessel on Aerin Frankel: “She’s the best goalie in the world. Countless times she's kept us in games. Kept us rolling through playoffs last year, facing so many shots. She’s just so steady–– never too high, never too low. You always get the same effort from her in practice and she’s a tremendous goalie leader as well for all three of our national goalies. The ability for them to push each other in every single practice, I think is what puts our goalies at the top.”
Fleet forward Hannah Brandt on Boston’s penalty kill so far this season: “Aerin [Frankel] is a good help. I think we read off each other. We obviously have a strategy, but I think we've just been reading, making plays and not giving the other team time to get set up. We try to dictate what they're doing as much as we can. Everyone that's gone out, whether it's people that don't kill often because of the new rule, everyone's bought in and blocking shots. Then obviously, it helps having Aerin behind us.”
Sirens Forward Sarah Fillier on New York’s performance tonight: “I thought we saw a lot of what we want Sirens hockey to be today. We are super physical, hard to play against so there’s a lot of good things to take–– and we got a point out of it. The crowd was awesome of course and it was our first Takeover Tour; to get a piece of it and help grow our game in our league, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo: “We were a hard team to play against today and I think there’s more examples tonight of some things we can continue to build on. Moving forward, starting with our effort from start to finish, we won’t hang our heads on this one.”
NOTABLES
Boston improves to 3-0 in shootouts this season, while New York drops to 1-3.
The Fleet have now won both of their Takeover Tour™ games this season by way of the shootout. Last season, during Takeover Weekend, Boston also secured a shootout victory –– against Ottawa at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
New York has now lost seven straight games but ended their five-game streak of regulation losses. The Sirens losing streak includes four losses to the Fleet with two by way of shootouts.
Aerin Frankel recorded her league-leading tenth win of the season. Her 39 saves are just one off her season-high of 40, recorded against Toronto in the Fleet’s first game of the season.
Sarah Fillier tallied her sixth goal of the season––her first career marker against Boston––moving her into sole possession of second place in league scoring with 19 points. She’s also now tied with Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme for most rookie goals.
Alina Müller recorded an assist and now has points in four straight (3G, 3A) and in nine of her last ten games played (5G, 8A).
Jessie Eldridge recorded her sixth goal of the season, putting her just one shy of her 24-game total from the inaugural season. The New York forward now sits tied for seventh in league scoring with 16 points.
Hilary Knight picked up an assist and now has 17 points on the season, moving her into a tie for fifth in league scoring.
Ella Shelton recorded her tenth point of the season, an assist in the first period. Her point total puts her in a tie for fifth in the PWHL among all defenders.
Amanda Pelkey tallied her first goal of the season in her 17th game to match her 23-game goal total from the inaugural season. She also set a new career-high for points in a season with three.
Susanna Tapani scored her second shootout goal of the season, which proved to be the only tally in the five-round shootout. The forward also netted the overtime game-winner in Boston’s previous game, a 3-2 victory over Ottawa.
Abby Roque collected her seventh assist of the season, matching her inaugural season total, recorded in 24 games.
Loren Gabel (2) became the ninth Fleet player with multiple goals on the season.
Sidney Morin tallied her third helper of the season, two of which have been against the Sirens.
Hannah Brandt played in the last professional women’s hockey game played at KeyBank Center back on Dec. 29, 2018, as a member of the PHF’s Minnesota Whitecaps against the Buffalo Beauts.
New York will play in the eighth stop of the PWHL Takeover Tour™, in Detroit vs. Minnesota on Mar. 16. Boston will play in the ninth and final stop of the tour, in St. Louis vs. Ottawa on Mar 29.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Boston 1 1 0 0 - 3
New York 2 0 0 0 – 2
1st Period-1, New York, Fillier 6 (Shelton), 2:09. 2, Boston, Gabel 2 (Morin, Brown), 6:27. 3, New York, Eldridge 7 (Roque), 19:10. Penalties-Hobson Ny (interference), 6:54; Pelkey Bos (interference), 7:54.
2nd Period-4, Boston, Pelkey 1 (Knight, Müller), 19:23 (PP). Penalties-Eldridge Ny (too many players), 9:49; Shelton Ny (cross checking), 18:33; Bard Bos (cross checking), 19:52.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tapani Bos (ob-tripping), 3:27; Hartje Ny (cross checking), 15:02.
1st OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout - Boston 1 (Brandt NG, Tapani G, Knight NG, Müller NG, Tapani NG), New York 0 (Tulus NG, Carpenter NG, Fillier NG, Eldridge NG, Roque NG).
Shots on Goal-Boston 9-10-9-4-1-33. New York 14-8-12-5-0-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Boston 1 / 4; New York 0 / 3.
Goalies-Boston, Frankel 10-4-1-0 (39 shots-37 saves). New York, Osborne 1-3-0-2 (32 shots-30 saves).
A-8,512
THREE STARS
1. Aerin Frankel (BOS) 37/39 SV
2. Susanna Tapani (BOS) SOW
3. Jessie Eldridge (NY) 1G
STANDINGS
Boston (6-5-2-6) - 30 PTS – 3rd Place
New York (4-3-3-9) - 21 PTS - 6th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
New York: Wednesday, February 26 at Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. ET
Boston: Saturday, March 1 at Montreal at 2:00 p.m. ET