The Boston Fleet are heading to Canadian Tire Centre for the first time Friday night with their best-of-five semifinal tied 1-1 and a trip to the series lead on the line. Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. ET in Ottawa, where the Charge turned the matchup with a 3-1 win in Game 2 after Boston opened with a 2-1 home victory.
The split has matched the rhythm of a series that has been close on the scoreboard but not always in the details. Boston has outshot Ottawa by 10 in each of the first two games, but Ottawa has still found the answers when the game tightened. Game 4 is scheduled for May 10 in Ottawa, and if needed Game 5 would return to Boston on May 12.
For the Fleet, the numbers suggest they have been close to taking control. Boston leads the all-time points series against Ottawa 24-21, even though Ottawa won the 2025-26 regular-season series 7-5 in points. Alina Müller has three points in two playoff games, with one goal and two assists, while Jamie Lee Rattray scored the winner in Game 1 and has four of her 12 all-time goals against Ottawa.
The goaltending has been just as sharp. Aerin Frankel has a 1.52 goals-against average and a.921 save percentage through one playoff start, and Gwyneth Philips has matched the 1.52 GAA while posting a.949 save percentage through two playoff games. Ottawa has allowed two or fewer goals in eight straight playoff games, a run described as twice as long as the next-longest such streak in PWHL playoff history.
There is still one hard edge to the matchup that numbers alone do not soften. Ottawa’s Game 2 win was the first playoff game in the Charge’s history decided by multiple goals, after their first nine playoff games were all decided by one goal. Boston also went 0-for-7 on the power play in one game and 1-for-9 in the other, a reminder that the Fleet have created chances without yet turning them into enough separation.
That is what makes Friday matter. Boston gets its first look at Canadian Tire Centre with the series even, the same building where several Fleet players appeared during the PWHPA All-Star Weekend in December 2022. Jamie Lee Rattray grew up in Kanata, about 10 minutes from the arena, which gives the night a homecoming feel without changing the math: the next team to solve this one-goal postseason grind will be the one that leaves Ottawa in control.
