AUBURN — Too many penalties nearly cost St. Dominic Academy against Scarborough on Wednesday night.
The Saints, though, simply had too much firepower for the Red Storm.
Scarborough scored twice on long power plays to try and keep pace, but the Saints’ top two lines couldn’t be held in check enough to prevent St. Dom’s from skating away with a 4-3 Class A boys’ hockey victory at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“Anytime that you’re in the penalty box, and you keep going there, you’re giving the other team a great opportunity of putting the puck in the net. And they did,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Parker said.
“Against a good team like Scarborough, you definitely want to stay out of the box, be a little bit smarter,” Parker added.
The Red Storm (3-2) tied the game less than five minutes into the first period after spending more than four minutes in power-play situations. The Saints (4-2) had survived a two-man advantage and only had to kill off a 5-on-4, but Cameron Budway’s shot eluded St. Dom’s goalie Gaston Fuksa.
Scarborough coach Jake Brown had used his timeout 70 seconds before, with his team holding a 5-on-3 advantage but down 1-0 on the scoreboard.
“I thought it was just a time that we had to kind of settle down,” Brown said. “I thought it was a critical time to try to get a goal there, and really just really wanted to simplify it and get pucks to the net.”
The Red Storm had failed to put any shots on goal during a first-period power play.
St. Dom’s took the lead back just past the halfway point of the second. Lucas Pushard’s shot from the right side slid under Scarborough goalie Peter O’Brien and inside the left post. Will Fletcher made it 3-1 with 15.9 seconds left in the frame.
Ethan Jasa stole momentum for the Red Storm by sending in a shot from the point that snuck past Fuksa with 1.5 seconds left.
“I believe I heard it nicked somebody and went in the net,” Parker said. “But that shot still shouldn’t have made it all the way down. It should have been blocked, especially with a few seconds left. You know, we want to really take care of defense, take care of our own net with a few seconds left in the period.”
“I told the guys that it’s very rare that you can go into the locker room down 3-2 and have the momentum, but I thought that going into the third we had the momentum from getting that goal late,” Brown said. “So I told our guys we really want to stay on our toes in the third period, try to keep that momentum as long as we can.”
Instead, St. Dom’s regained momentum six minutes into the third. Dominic Chasse scored his second goal of the game, with Pushard providing the assist. A Scarborough penalty then gave the Saints a chance to stay on the attack, but a pair of penalties against St. Dom’s turned a 5-on-4 advantage into a 4-on-3 disadvantage.
The Red Storm again couldn’t convert with the two-skater advantage, but Zachary Chaisson did rip a shot by Fuksa just after the first penalty expired to draw his team to within one.
“I thought we did a good job taking advantage of their penalties,” Brown said.
Scarborough pulled O’Brien for the final 1:44 of the game, but the Saints held off the Red Storm’s charge with the extra skater.
“They were hungry, they were wanting a tying goal, but, I mean, our kids really worked hard,” Parker said.
O’Brien stopped 25 of 29 shots in goal for Scarborough, while Fuksa made 20 saves for St. Dom’s.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
St. Dominic’s Dominic Chasse controls the puck while looking for a passing opportunity during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)St. Dominic’s Jacob Lewis mixes it up with Scarborough’s Dawson Gendreau during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)Scarborough’s Callaghan Berry and St. Dominic’s Matthew Fletcher collide while chasing after the puck during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)St. Dominic’s Jaden Webster takes control of the puck while teammate Hunter Hughes protests the play during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)Scarborough’s Patrick Clonan and St. Dominic’s Matthew Fletcher get tangled up while struggling for control of the puck during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)St. Dominic’s Dominic Chasse looks to pass the puck as Scarborough’s Jacob Brown tries get his stick into the action during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)St. Dominic’s Jacques Ouellette moves the puck down the ice as Scarborough’s Patrick Clonan plays defense during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)Scarborough’s Jacob Brown sties to the the puck past St. Dominic’s Jacques Ouellette during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
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