Hockey: Belmont-Gilford 1 at Goffstown 9

Last night the Grizzlies returned to the ice for their first game since February 3rd, as their showdown out at Keene was postponed by snow on February 7th. The Red Raiders from Belmont-Gilford came calling in what promised to be a competitive affair. These two teams have played some pretty good games over the last two seasons, with Goffstown escaping with a 7-6 win two years ago, and then the Grizzlies snagged a 5-3 win last year. This season though, caught a red-hot Goffstown team against a Belmont-Gilford team that just doesn’t have the horses they have had in recent years. The Red Raiders came in to the game having won four in a row, and had posted 36 goals in their last 6 games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the teams took a couple of minutes to feel out the pace of the game, it didn’t take long to notice that Goffstown was getting the better chances. Then a theme that would be present all night, line after line, started to show through. The Grizzlies cycled the puck, they made pass after pass, and moved the puck. All four lines were in on the action before the night was through.

Once the Grizzlies scored their first goal to get things going it seemed that a tidal wave of offense overwhelmed the opponent. Goffstown scored five goals in under three minutes in jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Griffin Cook finished in front of the net on a feed from Noah Charron. Then 26 seconds later Cook scored again, this time, after a Colin Burke shot went wide, Noah Charron gave the puck a nudge to Sebastian Beal who turned the net and fed a pass to Griffin Cook for the goal. The MGM line jumped into the fray with a goal of their own when Colby Gamache deflected a wrist shot from Evan McCuaig at the right point, down and bounced the puck into the net. Max Lajeunesse had the first assist on the goal. It took just 15 seconds for the 3rd line, The Branch line, to get on the board too, when Brett Branscum banged a rebound home. First, Colin Burke had carried the puck down low, below the goal line. Burke lost the puck, right onto the stick of Grady Chretien who made a nifty move to get to the crease before being denied on his shot attempt. That’s where Branscum grabbed the rebound and put the puck in the back of the net. Griffin Cook scored his third goal of the night after Jacob Noonan made a point to point pass to his defensive partner Brett Lassonde. Lassonde ended up wrapping the puck down through the left-wing corner to Cook who scored the goal. Goffstown capped off their six-goal period when Michael Fortin scored from Max Lajeunesse. Goffstown had 17 shots to just 6 for the Red Raiders in the period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the second period, Sebastian Beal lifted a nice backhand goal past Colin McGreevy after being set up by Griffin Cook to give Goffstown a 7-0 lead half way through the game. At 12:33 of the period Kyle LaSella made a great save to keep the Red Raiders off of the score board. Although, in the sequence, the Grizzlies never could clear the puck, and Harrison Parent scored for Belmont-Gilford with the assist going to Joey Blake. Ten seconds later Goffstown answered quickly when Grady Chretien scored on a set up started by Theo Milianes. Milianes worked free on the left wing side of the zone and flipped a backhand at the net. The puck reached goaltender Cody Hodgins and Brett Branscum at the same time and bounced out to the slot where Chretien was waiting, and Grady made no mistake with his shot into the back of the net. At 13:12 of the second period, history was made when Brett Lassonde made a neat move in his own end to get the puck to Noah Charron, who made a quick pass to Griffin Cook skating up the left wing. Charron stayed in his lane and took a nice return pass from Griffin Cook between the circles, and let a low shot go from the slot. The shot went right through the skates of Troy Gallagher, and then squeezed under and through the pads of Cody Hodgins into the back of the net. Charron also made a nice grab of Sebastian Beal’s stick as it had been pinwheeled into the air by Gallagher as the puck entered the net. The goal was the 100th career point for Noah Charron. In 81 career games, Charron has 57 goals and 43 assists. 100 points in a high school career is pretty impressive around these parts. With hockey being a sport that allows a player to accumulate points by scoring goals or assisting on teammates goals, this milestone is a tribute to an individual succeeding in a team environment. No player would achieve such a milestone without help from the team, or without helping the team, as it should be. Congratulations Noah Charron. Somehow as if sport doesn’t provide enough symmetry already, Charron’s goal with the assist to Griffin Cook, put the CBC line over 100 points combined for this season on the same play.

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If you click on a gallery photo, click on it again to open the larger original image.

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The third period was running time and Goffstown outshot Belmont-Gilford 9-0 in the period. Calvin Sage, Stephen Provencher, and Sean Hunter won faceoffs, cycled the puck, and created some scoring chances despite being unable to cash in. On consecutive faceoffs Sage won the puck to Grady Chretien who circled the net and fed back to back passes to Melanie Riendeau for shots from the slot. All the Grizzlies played well in this one. The final score was 9-1 in favor of Goffstown, and they held the Red Raiders to zero shots in the final period, and just 10 shots for the game.

Goffstown returns to action on Thursday, at home, at 5:45pm to play the Alvirne Broncos (3-11).

 

WMUR Sports clip

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NHIAA Hockey:

Updated records.

Goffstown (12-2) vs. Belmont-Gilford (7-6-1)

Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH
February 13, 2018. 7:15PM Start:

1st Goffstown at 4:58. Even. Colby Gamache (7) from Evan McCuaig (4) and Max Lajeunesse (10).

1st Goffstown at 5:13. Even. Brett Branscum (7) from Grady Chretien (4).

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Saves:

Goffstown: Kyle LaSella 9 of 10.

Belmont-Gilford: Colin McGreevy 15 of 22 (21:35)

Belmont-Gilford: Cody Hodgins 4 of 6 (8:25)

Belmont-Gilford: Bobby Brodeur 9 of 9 (15:00)

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