Fleet notebook: Boston to play Montreal at the TD Garden in April

The Boston Fleet will be docking on Causeway Street this spring The Professional Women s Hockey League club publicized Tuesday morning that the gang will host the Montreal Victoire at TD Garden on April at p m The event was originally listed on Boston s schedule with a time and location to be determined but the Fleet will play its first competition on Garden ice against a longtime Boston rival The tilt will serve as the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader at TD Garden The Boston Bruins first play the Tampa Bay Lightning at p m before the Fleet will hit the ice for the first professional women s hockey encounter in the historic venue This marks a special milestone in our club s history stated Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer The Boston-Montreal rivalry runs quite deep on the men s side but we ve unveiled a way to continue that in the PWHL as well I expect this to be a really fun championship for our fans to attend and one that s going to mean a lot in terms of standings and just to continue on that rivalry Montreal battled Boston last March at the Bell Centre home of the Montreal Canadiens in front of fans The Fleet will now return the favor on the home sheet of the Bruins in what has developed into one of the league s fiercest rivalries Of the regular-season games played between the franchises seven have required overtime The Fleet notably swept Montreal in three straight overtime games in the PWHL semifinals Marmer noted the organization has been working toward landing a event at TD Garden since the inaugural season in but faced struggles to align the venue s crowded schedule with the PWHL s She announced it was a priority entering year three TD Garden boasts a limit of for hockey games and brought in over fans for the Women s Beanpot in The WNBA s Connecticut Sun held games at the Garden the past two years selling out both It s a place that I think a lot of us have inevitably needed to play especially representing the city of Boston and playing for the Boston Fleet we re really excited to get the opportunity to play at TD Garden and hopefully pack the place stated Fleet captain Megan Keller The Fleet calls Lowell home for the majority of its home matchups this season Boston hosts eight games at the Tsongas Center and four at Agganis Arena Boston has games at Agganis this week on Wednesday p m and Sunday p m and doesn t return to the Tsongas until Jan Hot start Boston - - - is the only unbeaten group in the early goings of the - campaign earning thrilling wins over Montreal - and the Toronto Sceptres - Boston has relinquished a league-best one goal thus far and has also yet to allow a power-play goal -for- Getting three points in this league is tough to do so to be able to do that in the first two games we re obviously excited about that but I think for us as a group we know that we still have things to work on and still have things to grow on Keller commented That s our focus after each match Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel blocks a shot as defenseman Olivia Zafuto provides backside promotion against Montr al Victoire forward Abby Roque during the first period of Boston s - PWHL win over Montreal in Lowell James Thomas for the Lowell Sun The Fleet blanked Montreal in Lowell in its home opener before hitting the road and doling out an impressive - win over Toronto after battling back from a - deficit Boston was the better organization in all facets of the championship against the Victoire holding a - shots on goal advantage and playing a sound defensive event before grinding out a blue-collar effort while being outshot - against Toronto While it is early being able to win in a myriad of avenues excites Marmer If you have a association that can find different strategies to win hockey games that s a really good sign Marmer reported Frankel stands tall Star netminder Aerin Frankel has a lot to do with Boston s success Frankel has stopped of shots and has been the anchor of the Fleet s first two wins There s a confidence that she plays with and seeing that come through in these first couple of games that s the start that you want for her Marmer revealed Frankel has certainly lived up to her billing as a franchise stalwart in her third year with the gang The Goaltender of the Year finalist led the PWHL in saves last season with Newhook fitting in Boston s stars have shown out in their first two games with fixtures Susanna Tapani - - Keller - - and Alina M ller - - carrying the offensive workload But rookie Abby Newhook has promptly assimilated herself as a middle-six forward with a few playmaking punch for first-year bench boss Kris Sparre Newhook chose a pivotal time to pot her first career goal tying the match at - against Toronto en course to a thrilling win on Saturday She s a athlete that s come in and earned every opportunity Sparre declared That last championship in a big moment we re trying to find our rhythm in the tournament and Abby goes in and wins a big - puck and sets up a goal to sort of spark our company Newhook has experience playing on Garden ice The Boston College product played in the Women s Beanpot last year in a - win over Harvard in the third-place challenge