Highlights and Press Conferences available on Ottawa and Boston YouTube channels
OTTAWA, ON (February 28, 2026) – The Boston Fleet came out on top in the shootout for the first time in three tries against the Ottawa Charge this season, securing a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at TD Place in the first taste of post-Olympic action for both teams. The game featured the second goaltending battle of the season between Team USA’s Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips facing off at either end of the ice, each now with a win. Frankel turned away 23/25 and 4/5 in the shootout to become the second PWHL netminder to reach 30 career wins, while Philips stopped 21/23 and 3/5 in the shootout. Boston’s Abby Newhook was the lone scorer for the game’s first 40 minutes, reaching the back of the net at 14:52 in the first. Ottawa entered the third period with 29 seconds remaining on the power play, but Rebecca Leslie needed just eight seconds to bring the Charge even at one apiece. Leslie followed up less than two minutes later with her second goal at 2:04 to give Ottawa the lead, but Swiss hero Alina Müller played spoiler tying the game at 13:26 when her shot deflected off a Charge defender into the back of the net. Müller and Hannah Brandt capitalized in the shootout for Boston over Brianne Jenner’s lone shootout goal for Ottawa to give the Fleet their third-straight shootout win, but first over the Charge.
A sold-out crowd of 8,572 took in the action, just four shy of the Charge’s attendance record at TD Place, set on April 26, 2025. The win extended Boston’s lead in the standings at 32 points before going to New York on Thursday to face the Sirens. Ottawa sits in fifth at 23 points, one point back from the Sirens, as they prepare to host Seattle on Wednesday.
QUOTES
Fleet forward Hannah Brandt on the team’s resilience to battle back from the 2-1 deficit: “Our team never gets too high or too low. We had the lead and unfortunately gave it up, but there’s no doubt on our bench that we’ll get the tying goal and hopefully get the next one as well. Whether we have the lead or not, we’re playing as hard as we can and never giving up.”
Boston Head Coach Kris Sparre on the team’s performance in the first game back: “It was nice to be back on the bench and great for our players to play a game. I think when you take that much time off, you never really know what to expect in the first game back. We certainly have things to clean up, but I liked a lot of things about our game tonight… Maybe we should just stop wasting everyone’s time and go right to a shootout to start.”
Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod on Rebecca Leslie’s two goals: “Rebecca’s been phenomenal all year. She showed it again. She’s such a competitor. She got her game going stronger and stronger as the periods went on. We saw she was determined in the third period. She’s so composed with the puck. She lets the game come to her. She doesn’t force it. If the puck is on her stick, we know we are in a good spot. She’s also got that chemistry with Brianne Jenner and Sarah Wozniewicz. This line has been an important one for us this season. They’re fun to watch.”
Charge captain Brianne Jenner on the sold-out crowd after the Olympic break: “It’s really fun. We missed it a lot this past month. We’re now pretty excited for Wednesday when we host Seattle at home again.”
NOTABLES
All three games in the season series have gone to shootout, accounting for three of the league’s seven shootout games and 35 of the league’s 79 total shootout attempts.
Boston is the first team in PWHL history to play three consecutive games with shootout results, winning all three as part of a four-game winning streak and six-game point streak dating back to Jan. 7 (2-3-1-0). Four of their last five games have gone to a shootout, and they have now set a new team record with five shootouts this season.
Ottawa, who won the first two games of the season series by shootout, entered the game a perfect 5-for-5 this season in games beyond regulation, a PWHL record. The other three wins were each secured in overtime.
Both Ottawa and Boston continue their clean record in overtime this season, with neither giving up a goal in 3-on-3 action.
The Charge lost at TD Place for the first time since Dec. 2, ending a team record four-game winning streak on home ice.
The Fleet have played in eight straight games decided by one goal, dating back to their last shootout at TD Place on Dec. 27. Prior to that, each of Boston’s first seven games were decided by multiple goals.
Both teams scored a power play goal today and continue to lead the league in percentage of total goals scored with the player advantage with Boston at 29.4% of their goals and Ottawa at 27.5% of their total goals.
Aerin Frankel became the second PWHL netminder to win 10 games this season and reach 30 career regular season wins (also Ann-Renée Desbiens, 10 / 32, MTL), coming in her 54th career start. The newly minted Olympic gold medalist was between the pipes for her fifth shootout of the season, allowing just one goal to bring her season record to 3-2. She has now faced 30 shootout attempts this season, twice as many as the previous single season record of 15.
Alina Müller stayed hot coming out of an All-Star Olympic performance and bronze medal victory with a game-tying goal, shootout goal, and an assist for her third multi-point game of the season. The Swiss and Fleet alternate captain extended her scoring streak to four, dating back to Jan. 14 (1G, 4A), the longest active assist streak in the league and one game shy of her career-high point streak set last season from Jan. 11 to Feb. 12, 2025 (2G, 5A). Müller also had a pair of shootout goals in Boston’s last game on Jan. 28 to lead the Fleet over the Sirens.
Hannah Brandt recorded her fourth shootout goal of the season to tie Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner, who also scored in today’s shootout, for the league lead. The Fleet forward leads the league with two shootout winning goals and 10 attempts, while continuing to look for her first goal of the season in regulation.
Abby Newhook scored her fifth goal of the season to bring her into a tie with New York’s Casey O’Brien for second among the league’s rookies. She now has points in three consecutive games dating back to Jan. 28 (2G, 1A) matching her season high set from Nov. 29 to Dec. 7 in her second through fourth career PWHL games.
Rebecca Leslie has a pair of goals in each of her last two games, including a power play marker in both. The third year forward fired a career-high eight shots on goal and continues a breakout campaign that’s seen her score 10 goals (3PPG) across 17 games – including five in her last four games – and 16 total points on the season to tie for the league lead. During the Olympic break, Leslie won the Accuracy Shooting Contest at the Ottawa Senators’ annual Skills Competition on Feb. 22, hitting all four targets in 9.542 seconds.
Jenner scored in her third-straight shootout against the Fleet with her fourth shootout goal of the season, while also tallying a secondary helper on Leslie’s first goal. The assist was the Ottawa captain’s 16th point of the season, surpassing her 2024-25 total and moving into a tie for the league lead in scoring. As alternate captain for Team Canada, Jenner tallied three points (1G, 2A) for the silver medalists in Milan.
Gwyneth Philips recorded her first shootout loss of the season, after winning her last three starts against Frankel. The two U.S. netminders combined to produce an Olympic record shutout streak of 352:17, with Philips turning away all 26 shots she faced in two games. Philips 15 starts this season are the second most in the league, one fewer than New York’s Kayle Osborne.
Keller continued her feverish February with the primary assist on Müller’s game-tying goal, her team-leading 12th point of the season. The U.S. gold medal-winning goal scorer has yet to go more than one game without a point this season and comes off an Olympic tournament where she tied for the lead in scoring with nine points.
Hadley Hartmetz recorded her third assist of the season, playing on the first defensive pairing with Keller in her 12th game of the season. The blue liner played in just two games for Boston last year in an injury shortened rookie season.
Susanna Tapani broke a three-game PWHL scoring drought that lasted through the Olympics with the secondary assist on Müller’s game-tying goal. The Finnish forward has four goals and five assists in 15 PWHL games this season.
Emily Clark tallied the primary assist on Leslie’s first goal and has points in consecutive games for the first time this season with a goal and two assists dating back to Jan. 28. The Canadian Olympian and Charge alternate captain scored two goals and an assist across seven games in Milan.
Loren Gabel took the ice for her first game of the 2025-26 PWHL season after signing with the Fleet on Jan. 26 from the team’s Reserve Player List. The veteran forward has been a member of the Fleet since the inaugural season, contributing 10 points (6G, 4A) in 37 career games across her first two seasons.
Olivia Zafuto played in her second Fleet game of the season after signing from the team’s Reserve Player List on Friday. The defender played 13 games for New York during the inaugural season, contributing one assist.
Zoe Boyd and Olivia Mobley were placed on long-term injured reserve on Feb. 13 and 17 respectively, with upper-body injuries sustained during practice over the Olympic break. In Boston’s 14 games coming into today, Boyd played in 12 while Mobley played in 10.
THREE STARS
1. Aerin Frankel (BOS) 23/25 SV
2. Rebecca Leslie (OTT) 2G
3. Alina Müller (BOS) 1G, 1A, 1 SOG
STANDINGS
Boston: 32 PTS (8-3-2-2) – 1st Place
Ottawa: 23 PTS (4-5-1-7) – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Ottawa: Wednesday, Mar. 4 vs. Seattle at 7 p.m. ET
Boston: Thursday, Mar. 5 at New York at 7 p.m. ET