Kellen Murphy had some late-game heroics for the Maine Nordiques on Friday night.
The Army commit scored with about four minutes remaining for the go-ahead goal in a 3-2 victory over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings in a North American Hockey League East Division game at Tri-Town Arena in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
“Kellen scored the first goal last night to get us going in the first minute of play and he scored in the last five minutes (tonight), the two most critical parts of the hockey game,” Maine Nordiques coach Nick Skerlick said.
The Nordiques defeated the Mountain Kings 5-2 in Lewiston on Thursday.
Newcomer Liam Gilmartin lit the lamp twice for the Nordiques, while Jake Bernadet had two assists.
The two players have a prior history playing together.
“They are definitely having some fun,” Skerlick said. “They played together on a line in Pee-wees. Jake is one of the reasons why we got Liam to come here and not go to minor league hockey.”
The Mountain Kings took a 2-1 lead in a two-minute span in the first period.
Former Nordiques player Layton Liffrig put the Mountain Kings up 1-0 at the 13:27 mark before Gilmartin tied the game 67 seconds later for Maine. Brandon Spaulding gave New Hampshire the lead again at the 15:18 mark.
Gilmartin scored again nearly 15 minutes into the second period when his shot got past Mountain Kings goalie Matt Schoephoerster (49 saves) to tie the game 2-2.
Maine goalie Thomas Heaney made 26 saves in the win.
“He had a tough first period tonight, too, but he was able to bounce back after giving up two goals on the first seven shots,” Skerlick said. “He goes out there and collects at least (20) saves after that.”
The Nordiques were 0 for 4 on the power play and the Mountain Kings were 0 for 2.
The teams meet again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Hooksett. The Nordiques will be playing their fourth game in seven days while the Mountain Kings are finishing five games in five days on Saturday.
“The team that wants to win the most tomorrow is going to be the team that wins,” Skerlick said. “I don’t think it will be a skill thing. Truthfully, the team that works the hardest will win the hockey game.”
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HONORED
The NAHL announced October’s Players of the Month this week and two players with area ties were recognized.
Brock James of Falmouth, a University of Maine commit, was named the forward of the month. He leads the Lone Star Brahmas of the South Division with 17 points (six goals and 11 assists) in 12 games this season.
Former Nordiques goalie Kael DePape was named goaltender of the month. He went 4-1-1 in October with a 0.96 goals-against-average and a .960 save percentage with the El Paso Rhinos of the South Division.
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