LOWELL — The Boston Fleet’s trade-deadline acquisition is heating up at just the right time.
Jessie Eldridge was tabbed as a seasoned goal scorer with legitimate offensive flair when Boston dealt Theresa Schafzahl to the Seattle Torrent in March.
Eldridge has lived up to that billing, especially on Wednesday night during Professional Women’s Hockey League action at the Tsongas Center. The forward scored two goals and added an assist to power the Fleet to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Frost in front of 4,170 fans as Boston rebounded into the win column following the team’s 1-0 setback at TD Garden on Saturday.
After being held off the scoresheet in her first three games in a Fleet sweater, Eldridge has pocketed five goals in her last five games as the second-place Fleet (15-5-2-5) make a push for first place with three contests remaining on the regular-season slate. The Fleet return home for its final two games of the season at the Tsongas Center on April 22 and April 25, following a one-game road trip to Montreal on Friday.
“Jessie is great,” said Fleet head coach Kris Sparre. “We knew what we were getting in terms of the offensive upside and ability to score. It’s pretty impressive in this league to put up those kinds of numbers that quickly.”
The Frost made things interesting, cutting Boston’s lead to 3-2 with 1:36 left, but the Fleet held on to remain undefeated in six games at the Tsongas this season.
Alina Müller also found the back of the net and picked up two assists as part of a highly productive line trio with Eldridge and Abby Newhook.
“They process the game relatively similar, they play at a similar pace, so I think it was only a matter of time before the puck started going in the net for them,” Sparre said of Eldridge and Müller.
Saturday marked just the second time all season Boston had been shut out. Eldridge didn’t waste much time ensuring it wouldn’t happen again.
“It’s two good teams,” said Frost head coach Ken Klee. “Obviously, we’re both up there in the standings and already secured our playoff spots. So it was a good hockey game. We expected it to be a good game, and it was.”
Trailing on an offensive zone rush, Eldridge collected a pass from Müller at the top of the left circle, one-timing a laser over Nicole Hensley’s blocker.
Müller assisted on both of Eldridge’s goals and is tied with Frost defender Taylor Heise for the most all-time assists (40) among skaters.
“I’ve seen her play for a while in the league and on the national team in the last years and I always thought she was a really good player and could shoot the puck exceptionally well,” Müller said of Eldridge. “And when I heard we got her on our team, I was super happy.”
And after scoring first, Eldridge checked off another important box with her second of the game just 6:39 into the middle frame. Boston’s power play struggles have been no secret, but the Fleet were 1-for-2 on Wednesday.
Eldridge’s goal was textbook. After Haley Winn unleashed a wrist shot at the top of the point, Eldridge crashed the net along the left goal line before depositing a loose puck into the back of the net.
“We came in and played a lot of games since I got here, so I think that’s the way to do it,” Eldridge said. “And we’re just going to keep going.”
The entire 26-second sequence from the offensive zone faceoff had all the makings of a conversion. Megan Keller teed up a one-timer at the top of the left circle before Boston’s top unit retrieved the puck and kept applying steady pressure.
Boston successfully killed a Frost power play shortly thereafter — Aerin Frankel made a timely kick save on a cross-crease feed to Lee Stecklein — but Minnesota cashed in even strength to cut Boston’s lead to 2-1 when Kendall Cooper’s shot from the blue line snuck past Frankel.
But Boston’s top line had a quick answer, regaining a two-goal lead just over two minutes later after Müller cleaned up a rebound at the net front. The zone entry resembled the first goal, utilizing Eldridge as a trailer for a shot. After Newhook got to Eldridge’s rebound, Müller positioned herself perfectly on the doorstep for the tap-in.
Müller (4-17-21) and Eldridge (12-7-19) lead the Fleet in scoring.
Boston whiffed on a power play opportunity late in the third despite generating a myriad of high-danger scoring chances, which allowed the Frost to come within a goal in the final 1:36 when Britta Curl-Salemme found twine. But Boston survived a late push as the Frost deployed an extra attacker.
