WELLESLEY — Saturday night’s sold-out Fleet game at TD Garden, a 1-0 loss to the first-place Montreal Victoire, was billed as a can’t-miss event, the first PWHL game at Boston’s marquee venue and a battle between the league’s two best teams this season. In some ways, it also was a trial run.
“This is going to be a matchup potentially in the playoffs,” Fleet coach Kris Sparre said early Saturday. “It sets the tone.”
Boston and Montreal have each locked up one of the four spots in the Walter Cup playoffs. The Fleet won the teams’ first two meetings this season, 2-0 and 4-3 in overtime, but the Victoire have been battling for the top spot all season. The matchup featured the league’s best goaltenders, Boston’s Aerin Frankel and Montreal’s Ann-Renee Desbiens, who lead the MVP race.
It’s also a test run for PWHL games at the Garden.
“Any time you’re selling out buildings of our size, there is always interest on both sides,” said Bruins COO and TD Garden president Glen Thornborough. “The partnership between the Bruins and Fleet is strong . . . I think that dialogue and communication will continue stronger than ever.”
Saturday’s crowd of 17,850 is not the largest game Sparre has been part of, as that crown goes to the 2015 DEL Winter Game outdoors in Germany, when Sparre scored two goals in a win for Dusseldorfer EG in front of 51,125.
But it is the largest crowd for his Fleet and the second-largest on US soil in PWHL history, behind only last Saturday’s 18,006 at Madison Square Garden when the New York Sirens beat the Seattle Torrent in a shootout.
The PWHL hosted a fantasy camp Friday and Saturday at the Fleet’s practice facility in Wellesley, giving 24 hockey players ranging from age 18 to 69 the chance to play like a pro for the weekend.
The league arranged a professional-style locker room setup for the campers, a dedicated equipment manager to sharpen their skates and wash their jerseys, and training sessions with a strength and conditioning coach as well as on-ice practices.
“There’s a lot of excitement around not only the Fleet and the league, but around adult hockey,” said PWHL vice president of team operations and grassroots initiatives Annie Camins. “There are a lot of adults who want to learn to play the game who are big fans of the league and our mission.”
Sparre returned to the bench after missing the Fleet’s most recent game against Vancouver to be with his wife, Steph, as they welcomed a second child, a daughter named Quinn, on April 3 … Rookies Mia Biotti and Abby Newhook both have prior experience on Garden ice. Biotti, who grew up in Cambridge and played at Buckingham Brown & Nichols School and Harvard, and Newhook, who played at Boston College, competed in the 2024 and ‘25 Beanpots … Before the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at the Garden, some Bruins donned Fleet sweaters for their NHL walk-ins. Morgan Geekie wore Susanna Tapani’s jersey, Charlie McAvoy donned Megan Keller’s with the “C”, and Jeremy Swayman his goalie counterpart, Frankel.
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.
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