OTTAWA, ON (March 15, 2025) – Hilary Knight led the Boston Fleet to a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Charge with a three-point performance on Saturday afternoon at a sold-out TD Place. The win moved Boston into second place in league standings with 38 points, while the Charge remain five points back from the fourth and final playoff position. After a scoreless first period, Alina Müller opened the scoring midway through the second, with Knight earning her first assist of the afternoon and Shay Maloney picking up the secondary assist. At 19:59, Tereza Vanišová scored the PWHL’s latest goal in a regulation period, tying the game at one going into the third frame.
Boston’s season-high four goals in the third period came consecutively, starting at 2:42 with Theresa Schafzahl's goal, which gave the Fleet their second lead of the game. The Fleet’s next two goals came from Knight and Jill Saulnier, with each player earning the only assist on the other’s tally, giving Boston a commanding 4-1 lead. Lexie Adzija earned her first goal of the season––an empty net goal–– with the Fleet final marker at 19:11. Ottawa’s Natalie Snodgrass scored a late goal to make the final score 5-2. Aerin Frankel recorded her twelfth win of the season with 26 saves on 28 shots. Ottawa rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips recorded 24 saves on 27 shots in the loss.
QUOTES
Boston Fleet Head Coach Courtney Kessel on Hilary Knight’s season so far: “Last year there was a lot of things on Knight’s plate. She was starting this league, trying to build a culture within a new program that’s 26 women from across the world and you put a lot on your shoulders to try and build this thing the right way. I think it was heavy for her, and I think it would have been heavy for anyone. This year she's settling in; she's enjoying the game again. We have so much fun in the locker room and she's just shining.”
Fleet forward Lexie Adzija on what the regulation win meant for the team: “I think any win at this point in the season is really important. The league is so close that every game is pretty much a playoff game now. Those three points are huge for us going into the final stretch here.”
Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod on the end of the three-game winning streak at home: “It was a missed opportunity on our part today. There are still good opportunities in front of us. [...] There is a group of us that doesn’t realize that every game has the potential to start a run. That’s what we’ve got to strive to do here. We’ve got to start stringing points together. That’s how you move in this league.”
Charge’s Ronja Savolainen on the confidence the team has in Gwyneth Philips while Emerance Maschmeyer is out with an injury: “She’s a heck of a good goalie. She’s showing it in every game she has played. We have three good goalies, so we can’t complain about that.”
NOTABLES
Boston extended their point streak to eight games, one game away from Toronto’s season-high nine-game streak (1/25-2/23).
Boston is now 6-2-1-1 when scoring first this season, while the Charge drop to 1-0-1-7 when allowing the first goal of the game.
Ottawa’s three-game home winning streak and their six-game home point streak both ended with the loss.
Hilary Knight recorded her fifth multi-point performance of the season, moving into the league lead in scoring with 24 points. The Fleet captain now leads her team in assists (12), while continuing to lead in goals (12) and scoring.
Aerin Frankel is now tied with Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens for most games with 60 or more minutes played (15). The goaltender now sits at 12 wins on the season, one behind league-leader Desbiens.
Alina Müller collected her seventh goal of the season, recording a point in three straight games against Ottawa. The forward now sits at 17 points on the season through 22 games, surpassing her 2024 season total of 16 points (5G, 11A) in 24 GP.
Tereza Vanišová’s tally set a record for the latest goal in a regulation period in PWHL history at 19:59 in the second period. The Charge forward now has ten goals on the season, which puts her in a three-way tie for third in the category among all PWHL players.
Theresa Schafzahl scored her second goal of the season with both tallies against Ottawa, the previous coming on Feb. 20, 2025.
Jill Saulnier tallied her second multi-point game of the season. The forward now has five points this campaign, all of which have come since her trade to Boston from New York on Jan. 21, 2025.
Lexie Adzija scored her first goal of the season, ending a 25-game drought dating back to the inaugural season (Apr. 20, 2024).
Natalie Snodgrass collected her first goal of the season, tying her 23-game inaugural season record in three fewer games. The Ottawa forward has now recorded points in back-to-back games with the tally (1G, 1A), the first time she has done so in her PWHL career.
Shay Maloney tallied an assist, her first since Mar. 5, 2025, when she recorded three helpers against New York, the first rookie this season to hit that mark.
Ronja Savolainen recorded an assist for the second straight game and is now in a three-way tie for most assists (8) on the Charge and sits tied for sixth among all PWHL defenders in the category.
Shiann Darkangelo recorded her first assist in five games, bringing her total to four on the season.
Emily Brown collected her third assist of the season, tying her 24-game inaugural season record (1G, 3A) in two fewer games.
Hannah Brandt recorded an assist, extending her point streak to all four games against the Charge this season (1G, 3A).
With her third period assist, Victoria Bach tied her inaugural season point total with two goals and three assists on the season.
Knight recorded four shots in the game, moving her into second in the league category (80).
Ashton Bell collected her third assist of the season, ending a four-game pointless streak.
Boston became the first team to score four goals in the third period this season, continuing their league-lead in third period goals with 27. The Fleet are now tied with Minnesota Frost for most games with four or more goals (7).
SCORESHEET RECAP
Boston 0 1 4 - 5
Ottawa 0 1 1 - 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Babstock Bos (interference), 2:48; Adzija Bos (hooking), 11:30; served by McMahon Ott (too many players), 15:56.
2nd Period-1, Boston, Müller 7 (Knight, Maloney), 8:34 (PP). 2, Ottawa, Vanišová 10 (Savolainen, Darkangelo), 19:59. Penalties-Vanišová Ott (tripping), 7:26.
3rd Period-3, Boston, Schafzahl 2 (Brown, Brandt), 2:42. 4, Boston, Knight 12 (Saulnier), 12:10. 5, Boston, Saulnier 2 (Knight), 18:10 (EN). 6, Boston, Adzija 1 19:11 (EN). 7, Ottawa, Snodgrass 1 (Bach, Bell), 19:30. Penalties-Markowski Ott (tripping), 7:26.
Shots on Goal-Boston 7-12-10-29. Ottawa 9-8-11-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Boston 1 / 3; Ottawa 0 / 2.
Goalies-Boston, Frankel 12-4-3-0 (28 shots-26 saves). Ottawa, Philips 3-3-1-0 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-8,096 (sold out)
THREE STARS
Hilary Knight (BOS) 1G, 2A
Aerin Frankel (BOS) 26/28 SV
Ronja Savolainen (OTT) 1A
STANDINGS
Boston (8-5-4-6) – 38 PTS – 2nd Place
Ottawa (8-1-4-10) - 30 PTS – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Boston: Tuesday, March 18 vs. Montréal at 7 p.m. ET
Ottawa: Saturday, March 22 at New York at 12:00 p.m. ET