For the last three decades, TD Garden has been a coliseum for one of the most historic rivalries in sports.
Whenever Boston and Montreal stepped onto the ice sheet, an ultra-intense, physical game was in order. It’s woven into the identity of the storied hockey cities.
A renewed chapter of the feud between Boston and Montreal docked on Causeway Street on Saturday night when the Boston Fleet hosted the Montreal Victoire in front of a sellout crowd of 17,850 for the first Professional Women’s Hockey League game at the venue.
The game brought plenty of intensity. But Montreal’s Lina Ljungblom crashed the Fleet’s Garden party. Her goal at 5:52 of the third period broke a scoreless stalemate to lift the Victoire to a 1-0 victory over Boston to protect its position in first place in the league standings.
“It’s a great environment,” said Fleet head coach Kris Sparre. “Obviously, our team was very excited about this game and the moment. And it’s unfortunate that we’re not able to get the win here tonight, but so many positives when you look at what we were able to do: sell out the TD Garden in Boston. This one is bigger than just a hockey game. Really proud of our group.”
Goals will be in short supply whenever Montreal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens and Boston’s Aerin Frankel — two of the league’s best netminders — occupy the opposing blue paint. That sentiment proved to be true on Saturday.
Desbiens entered the matchup with a league-leading 1.13 goals against average and stopped all 20 shots she faced. Montreal has allowed a league-low 34 goals this season.
“Personally, I have a lot of respect for her, as I do a lot of the other amazing goalies in the league,” Frankel said of Desbiens. “I think goaltending is such a strong category in this league because there’s not that many teams. There’s so many good goalies, so it’s really fun when you go up against someone like Ann.”
Boston (14-5-2-5) wasn’t without its chances, though. The Fleet whiffed on a pivotal third-period power play and struggled to generate any momentum while on the player advantage. It was Montreal (16-4-2-5) that benefited from Boston’s power play woes.
Just seconds after Boston’s last power play expired, Montreal transitioned to offense to open the scoring. Entering the attacking zone on a three-on-two, Laura Stacey dropped the puck to a trailing Ljungblom, who one-timed the shot past Frankel’s outstretched glove.
Frankel, who entered the contest leading the league with a .955 save percentage, made 18 saves.
UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center has been the Fleet’s primary home venue since their inaugural season in 2024. The 2025-26 slate consisted of eight games in Lowell and four contests at Agganis Arena at Boston University. Boston returns to the Tsongas on Wednesday, where it will play three of its four remaining regular-season games before the playoffs.
Boston’s loss was the nightcap of a doubleheader on Garden ice. The Boston Bruins fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in the afternoon.
The game remained scoreless through two periods, but there was no shortage of energy on the ice in Boston. The Fleet was held off the scoreboard on two power play attempts in the opening frame before tensions continued to mount in the second frame to the enjoyment of an energetic crowd.
“It’s no secret we have a rivalry with them,” Keller said. “It gets physical out there. We see them a lot, we saw them in playoffs in year one, and we’re at the top right now battling for home ice here in playoffs. So, yeah, definitely a little bit. We wanted to come out and give the fans a game and give them some action and get them involved.”
After Frankel stuffed Stacey on a point-blank shot from the slot due to a Boston turnover, Stacey engaged in pleasantries with a pile of Fleet sweaters in front of the blue paint. The extracurriculars yielded matching roughing infractions, but neither side could convert during 4-on-4 action.
A flurry of penalties in the final minutes of the second created power plays for both the Fleet and the Victoire, but both goalies stood tall. Boston landed just 11 shots on goal after two periods.
The Fleet received a golden opportunity in the third on its final power play of the night, but the unsuccessful attempt was flipped on its head when Ljungblom lit the lamp.
Boston emptied its net to deploy an extra attacker in the final minutes of the third but couldn’t solve Desbiens despite scoring chances from Megan Keller and Haley Winn from the point.
Despite the loss, Keller had a message for aspiring hockey players in the crowd on Saturday.
“They have something to look forward to when they’re our age,” Keller said. “When we were growing up, we were dreaming of playing in the NHL. Tonight I think they saw that they could play in a professional hockey league and they can sell out buildings that the men play in.”
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