Courtney Kessel didn’t mince words last week when asked of the Boston Fleet’s mindset entering the final weeks of the 2024-25 PWHL regular season. “I mean, if anyone knows it best — you can never take your foot off the pedal,” the Fleet’s head coach said. “We were pretty far out of playoffs, everyone kind of wrote us off last year, and here we are in the Walter Cup Final — Game 5. So no, we haven’t punched our ticket yet, and we’ve got to continue to show up, game in and game out.” Despite narrowly sneaking into the postseason during their inaugural season in 2024, Boston made it all the way to a decisive Game 5 of the Walter Cup Final against Minnesota, with their hopes of clinching the PWHL’s first-ever title snuffed out in an eventual 3-0 loss. Those expectations have not changed for Kessel and the Fleet this season — with a battle-tested roster seemingly poised to make even more noise after shoring up deficiencies across their depth chart during the offseason. Entering Sunday, the Fleet (8-6-4-8) sit in third place in the PWHL standings with 40 total points, four points ahead of fourth-place Ottawa for the final playoff spot in the league with just four regular-season games to go. And with the Stanley Cup Playoffs looking like a lost cause on Causeway Street this spring, hockey fans starved for postseason hockey should turn their attention to the Fleet as they set sail on another playoff push. Here’s what you need to know about Boston’s other professional hockey team ahead of another Cup run. Who are the Boston Fleet? The Boston Fleet are one of the six teams in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) — now in its second year of existence. The PWHL stands as the lone professional women’s hockey league in North America — with the best talent across women’s hockey uniting under one entity backed by billionaire ownership and an eight-year collective bargaining agreement that offers benefits like living wages, training resources, and guaranteed ice time. The PWHL, which also has teams in Minnesota, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and the New York metro area, is reportedly weighing the expansion of two new franchises in the league as soon as next season. The Fleet play their home games at Lowell’s Tsongas Center but have made treks across the Boston area, including holding a pair of sold-out home games at Boston University’s Agganis Arena earlier this month. “It means everything,” Fleet captain Hilary Knight said last month of the growth and impact of the PWHL. “As a kid, you look up and you see where you want to be. And before, as a young girl, it was the NHL and then it was the Olympics. And to be able to be these role models, doing the sport that we love and just have a small impact on someone’s life, it’s so cool. “Even our recent season ticket holder event had almost doubled in size. And it’s crazy. We know we have a great product. We love the game. Fans love the game. Now they have a consistent place to watch it.” Hilary Knight is leading the charge Fleet captain Hilary Knight has been one of the top conduits for the Fleet’s success this season. The 35-year-old forward is the most decorated athlete in Women’s World Championship history with 14 medals, including nine gold medals. She also helped Team USA win Olympic Gold during the 2018 Winter Olympics (to go along with three Silver Medals). But even with her extensive resume, Knight didn’t put together her best season during the PWHL’s inaugural campaign; she was limited to six goals and 11 total points. Knight managed to play in all 32 of Boston’s games last year, but a nagging foot injury hampered her effectiveness — while Kessel noted that Knight’s efforts for setting the foundation of a new women’s hockey league also wore on her. “I think last year, there’s a lot of things on Knight’s plate — she’s starting this league,” Kessel said on March 15. “She’s 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. “And I think it was heavy for her, and I think it’d be heavy for anyone. And I think this year, she’s settled, and she’s enjoying the game again, and we have so much fun in the locker room. And I think she’s just shining.” Sure enough, Knight has been a force on the ice for the Fleet this season, leading the PWHL in total points (28) while ranking second behind only Montreal’s Marie-Philip Poulin (17) for the most goals in the league (15). A dangerous playmaker in Grade-A ice, Knight has both the size (5-foot-11) and hands to jam home rebounds, tip pucks past netminders, and pick the top corner with sharp wrist shots. Aerin Frankel continues to be a brick wall in net Knight’s resurgence has been a welcome sight for the Fleet this season. But Aerin Frankel’s stellar play in net has been the norm ever since the PWHL began last year. “She’s the best goalie in the world, and countless times she’s kept us in games,” Kessel said of Frankel on Feb. 23. “[She] kept us rolling through the playoffs last year — faced so many shots, and she’s just so steady, and she’s never too high, never too low. “You always get the same effort from her in practice. She’s just a tremendous goalie leader as well for our other two [goalies: Emma Soderberg and Klara Peslarova]. The ability for them to push each other in every single practice, I think, is what puts our goalies at the top.” Frankel was expected to be a franchise pillar for Boston right from the get-go, signing with the franchise during the league’s initial round of free agency alongside Knight and Megan Keller in September 2023. Frankel’s resume speaks for itself, as she ended her five-year run at Northeastern University with five-straight Hockey East Tournament titles, a Beanpot title, and having helped the Huskies punch their ticket to a national championship game in 2021. She’s been as advertised in the pro ranks as well, playing an essential role in carrying the Fleet to the Walter Cup Final last spring. While Boston struggled to consistently light the lamp last year, Frankel kept her team in games, stopping 286 saves of the 300 shots (.953 save percentage) she faced in the playoffs. Frankel’s 286 saves in the postseason were more than twice as many as Toronto’s Kristen Campbell, who ranked second in the playoffs with 126 saves. While Boston’s offense has improved this season, Frankel has continued to play at a high level — sporting a .927 save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average over 21 games. Last month, Frankel became the first netminder in PWHL history to record 1,000 saves. The 25-year-old is likely to again play a key role if the Fleet go on an extended run. “It’s kind of expected out of Aerin,” Fleet forward Hannah Brandt said of Frankel’s strong play in net. “We know what she can do, and we’re very confident in her every day. So she doesn’t even surprise me too often, but we’re lucky to have her.” Boston’s depth, scoring capabilities have improved While Frankel’s brilliance in net was the key determinant in Boston’s Walter Cup run last year, it was a fitting (albeit unfortunate) result that the team couldn’t find the back of the net in their Game 5 loss to the Minnesota. If there was one area that Boston had to improve on this year, it was their scoring capabilities, with the team dead-last in the PWHL with just 50 goals scored across 24 games last season. This year has stood as an improvement, as the Fleet entered Sunday tied for third in the league with 69 goals across 24 games. Knight’s surge has been a key reason behind the extra breathing room afforded to Frankel and Soderberg. But, several other players have also pulled on the rope in the offensive zone. Former Northeastern star forward Alina Müller — selected by Boston with the No. 3 pick in the inaugural PWHL Draft — has settled into a groove on Boston’s top line with Knight, scoring seven goals and adding 12 assists over 25 games. “I just try to help the team every night,” Müller said earlier this month. “Just try to do the little details right and get my game going. And obviously really fun playing with Shay [Maloney] and Hillary on one line. Share the puck really well. So it’s been good. We’re getting points and winning games. So that’s all that matters.” Susanna Tapani has been an effective top-six forward for the Fleet ever since being acquired from Minnesota in February 2024, scoring three goals over eight playoff games last season. The 32-year-old forward has now scored 11 goals and 18 points over 26 games with the Fleet this season, and is in the midst of the first three-game point streak of her PWHL career (two goals, three assists). Boston has also received contributions as of late from bottom-six regulars like Theresa Schafzahl, Amanda Pelkey, and Jamie Lee Rattray. One player who has already ingratiated herself to the Fleet in short order is veteran forward Jill Saulnier, who was acquired in a trade with New York in January. Even with just one goal and one assist on the season, Saulnier has been a versatile middle-six forward and physical spark plug for Boston — headlined by her scrap with Ottawa’s Tereza Vanišová last month. “I think her identity fits our identity perfectly,” Kessel said of Saulnier. “And she’s stepped in — talked about feeling like she’s at home and [I] just appreciate the way she’s come in, her willingness to compete and battle every single day, in practice, every game, and just her experience that she brings along with her on-ice physicality, I think she’s been a great fit.” The Fleet have been elevated by a strong rookie class Boston has been anchored by several established stars like Knight and Keller, but it’s hard to ignore the contributions from the Fleet’s rookie class. Despite being drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 PWHL Draft, former Brown and Quinnipiac forward Shay Maloney has been a great pickup by the Fleet — settling into a role as Boston’s top-line center between Muller and Knight. She has scored three goals and nine points this season, including a three-assist game against New York on March 5. Boston is also awaiting the return of Hannah Bilka, who is expected to return before the end of the season after suffering a lower-body injury while representing Team USA in the Rivalry Series against Canada last month. A dynamic offensive force who put up 22 goals and 26 assists in 39 games at Ohio State last season, the 24-year-old Bilka scoring four goals and recorded nine points over her first 13 games before her injury. Boston has to regroup after a recent slide The Fleet seemed to have found their stride down the stretch, orchestrating a nine-game point streak from Feb. 16 to March 18. It’s been an encouraging sight for Boston, especially with that strong stretch coming after the team lost one of of its top playmakers in Bilka. But with just four regular-season games left and a playoff spot still not secure, the Fleet have to tighten things up in crunch time after dropping back-to-back games against Toronto and Ottawa. In both games, the Fleet held leads after the first period of play before eventually imploding over the final 20 minutes — relinquishing four third-period goals to Toronto at Agganis Arena before giving up two goals in 32 seconds to Ottawa in Saturday’s loss at St. Louis’ Enterprise Center. “You can’t have a third period like that in this league … Listen, we knew they were going to show up. They’re a team that’s on the ups,” Kessel said postgame against Toronto last week. “And every game is a playoff-mentality game, so you have to show up.”