Aerin Frankel Secures Second Consecutive Shutout as Boston Fleet Defeat Goldeneyes 2-0

LOWELL, MA – Aerin Frankel delivered a standout performance, backstopping the Boston Fleet to a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Goldeneyes on Tuesday night at the Tsongas Center, marking her second consecutive shutout. Frankel impressively turned away a season-high 35 shots, extending her single-season shutout record to six and her all-time record to eight. This stellar effort also earned her a league-leading 15th win in 20 games. Despite the loss, Goldeneyes' netminder Kristen Campbell was equally formidable, stopping 27 of 28 shots in her fifth consecutive start.

The only puck to elude Campbell was Laura Kluge's first PWHL goal, a tip-in from a Megan Keller shot, assisted by Mia Biotti, who notched her first career point, at 9:03 of the second period. Susanna Tapani cemented the Fleet's win with an empty-net goal from center ice, assisted by Haley Winn, with less than a minute remaining in the third period. This crucial win propelled Boston into sole possession of first place in the PWHL standings with 45 points, breaking a tie with Minnesota (42 points). Vancouver remains seven points adrift of Toronto, currently holding the fourth and final playoff spot.

Both teams are set to travel to Toronto for their upcoming games. Boston will commence a three-game road trip on Friday, while Vancouver will make its second stop of a five-game road swing on Sunday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Quotes

Boston Assistant Coach Jordan LaVallée-Smotherman on the Fleet’s overall game and power play: "It was an interesting one. Obviously, happy to come out with a win and they’re not always going to be easy or pretty. Our group seems to find a way to win in close games, step up, and get the three points we need. Right now [on the power play], I think it’s about getting one to go. When it goes on from game to game, it can wear on the group mentally and we can make little adjustments here and there, but it’s about finding that one. We’ve liked our looks, we had a couple we’re really happy with tonight. Sometimes in hockey it’s just about getting that lucky bounce."

Fleet forward Laura Kluge on scoring her first PWHL goal: "Honestly, I’m super excited about it. I think I was kind of getting closer to actually scoring in the last couple games, so I’m really happy. Glad I finally got that out of the way. I struggled a lot coming back [from the Olympics]. The transition was really hard, but I think I found my [way back to my] game a bit the last couple games and feel like I’m in a pretty good spot now."

Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski on his team’s recent string of close losses: "That’s five in a row that I felt we’re executing, we’re competing, we’re giving ourselves a chance and opportunities to win hockey games. We’re just falling short. I really think some of it now is flipping the switch mentally, expecting good things to happen, expecting somebody to make a play. Once that gets rolling, it kind of feeds itself, and so we’re still struggling to break through in that area where confidence-wise we know we’re going to get it done. We’re not hoping, we’re not guessing, we’re not thinking maybe. We know that we’re going to make the plays necessary. Right now, that’s still the last little thing for me that we have to kind of break through – the mental component as the group – that we know that we’re going to do what we need to do to win a close game like that."

Goldeneyes captain Ashton Bell on goaltender Kristen Campbell’s 27-save performance: "[Kristen Campbell] has been solid for us the last five games. Tonight she was key in the special teams. When we had some light kills there, she kept us in it, she made some huge saves for us and gave us a chance to win that game. We’re very lucky to have her and she’s a character on and off the ice."

Notables

Boston has reached 45 points for the first time in team history, surpassing their 44 points from the 2024-25 season.
The Fleet have been dominant in Massachusetts this season, securing 23 out of 27 possible points and remaining undefeated in five games at the Tsongas Center (4-1-0-0).
This marks Boston’s sixth shutout of the season and ninth in team history, tying New York for the most regular-season shutouts all-time.
Vancouver has been shut out in four of their 11 road games this season, the most in the PWHL, including twice against Boston.
The Goldeneyes outshot the Fleet (35-29) for the first time in four games, having previously averaged a league-low 22.7 shots on goal against Boston.
Boston has scored the first goal 17 times in 22 games this season (a PWHL high), holding a 10-4-1-2 record in those matches. Conversely, Vancouver has conceded the first goal 17 times (also a PWHL high), with a 1-1-4-11 record in such games.
The Goldeneyes successfully killed all three of the Fleet's power play opportunities, maintaining the league's best penalty kill on the road with an 88.9% efficiency.
Fleet defenders have collectively surpassed 40 points in a season for the first time in team history, reaching 42 points tonight, the most in the PWHL.
Boston leads Vancouver 8-4 in points through four games of their season series, with each game played at a different venue. The series will conclude at a fifth venue, Edmonton's Rogers Place, on April 7.
Aerin Frankel achieved back-to-back shutouts for the first time in her career, becoming only the third goaltender in PWHL history to do so. Her 35 saves are the most in any of the league’s 19 shutouts this season, bringing her season save total to 500. She is the first goaltender this season to win 15 games and has been victorious in nine of her last 10 starts.
Laura Kluge scored her first PWHL goal in her 34th career game, bringing her season point total to two in 21 games.
Susanna Tapani's empty-net goal was her fourth goal in five games and eighth of the season, putting her at 15 points, three shy of her career high.
Megan Keller tallied her 11th assist in 22 games, matching her career high. She leads all Fleet skaters and league defenders with 17 total points.
Mia Biotti recorded her first career PWHL point with a first-period assist in her ninth game, becoming the sixth Fleet rookie to register a point this season.
Haley Winn reached double-digit assists with her primary helper on Tapani's goal, joining Keller and Kendall Cooper as the only defenders to hit this milestone.
Kristen Campbell made her fifth consecutive start for the Goldeneyes, bringing her season total to 10 games. This was her third time allowing one or fewer goals this season, improving her goals-against average to 2.10 and save percentage to .916.
Sophie Jaques led all skaters with seven shots on goal, matching her season high and increasing her career-high total to 83, second-most in the PWHL.
Sarah Nurse led all centers with a season-high 16 faceoff wins on 22 attempts for the Goldeneyes.
Alina Müller led Fleet skaters with four shots on goal and went 13-for-16 on faceoffs, achieving over 80% efficiency for the third time this season.
Jill Saulnier was scratched from the Fleet lineup for a third consecutive game due to a concussion.
Emerance Maschmeyer was absent from the Goldeneyes lineup for a fifth straight game, remaining day-to-day with an upper-body injury.