LOWELL, Mass. -- PWHL Boston returned to action on Thursday night after an over three-week break for the IIHF World Women's Championship tournament, defeating PWHL Toronto, 2-1, at Tsongas Center.
With the win, Boston improved to 9-9-2 while Toronto dropped to 13-7-0 in the PWHL inaugural season.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston entered the game five points behind Ottawa for the fourth and final playoff spot with just as many games remaining in the regular season.
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Even after the international break, Boston took control of the game by holding Toronto to just one shot in the first nine minutes of the opening frame. At the end of the first, Boston outshot Toronto, 9-7, and led in hits, 11-8.
Boston took the 2-0 lead in the second period on goals from Emily Brown and Susanna Tapani. Toronto got one goal back midway through the final period when Renata Fast tallied her third goal of the season past Boston netminder Aerin Frankel.
Frankel finished the night with 23 saves on 24 Toronto shots for her sixth win of the season.
Boston lost the regular season series to Toronto 2-3-0-0.
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STARS OF THE GAME
--Brown tallied her first goal of the season to open up the scoring, giving Boston the 1-0 lead with 5:32 remaining in the second period.
--Tapani gave Boston the 2-0 lead when she recorded her fourth goal of the season. The Boston forward won the offensive zone faceoff back to Jess Healey, who skated along the blueline before putting the puck on net. Tapani tipped the puck past Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell.
-- Fast scored the lone goal for league-leading Toronto in the third period to break up the shutout for Frankel.
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UP NEXT
Boston heads to the Big Apple to take on New York on Saturday. Puck drop from the Prudential Center is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game on NESN+.
Featured image via PWHL
