From Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH – Wednesday, February 19, 2020

For the second time in four days, the Grizzlies came out and more or less shut down an opponent for the first period. In doing so against Portsmouth-Newmarket on Sunday, and then against Winnacunnet on Wednesday night, Goffstown built 1-0 leads in each game and set themselves up for eventual victories. Goffstown ultimately pulled away in the 3rd period and beat the Winnacunnet Warriors, 7-2.

I know I started this by saying the Grizzlies shut down the opponent in the first period, and that had a lot to do with their starting goaltender. First of all, both Maddie Sage for Goffstown and Jack Ellis for Winnacunnet were called on to make big saves in the opening minute of the game, and they did so. At 1:18 of the period Sage made a huge save on a point blank chance from Carter Renaud. The save came seconds before Jackson Burke picked off a Winnacunnet centering pass and threaded a pass ahead to Grady Chretien who skated in, deked, and scored on Jack Ellis at 1:30 of the period. After all was said and done one might think that Ellis had a tough night in net, but he made several tremendous saves on the night including a great save against Jackson Burke at the 11-minute mark. Goffstown would end the period with a lopsided advantage in shots on goal, 15-5, and a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard.

In the second period, the Grizzlies kept on piling up scoring chances but the game remained a one-goal game. At 5:54 of the middle period, the Warriors made a nice play in the defensive zone and used their speed to quickly turn it into a 2-on-1 chance. Chaz Ziolkowski put the puck between his legs and out in front him as he bolted up the left wing. As he pushed the puck up ice he crossed a pass to Jacob Giacolone who had matched his speed up the right wing. Giacolone walked in and was robbed by a Sage right toe save with some help from the backchecking Grady Chretien. And again, the great save set the table for another Grizzlie goal, this time just 25 seconds later. Colby Gamache did some grinding work in the corner and dumped the puck down low to Chretien. When Gamache came out of the corner, two Warriors skated with him for just a second which created a sliver of room for Chretien to skate in the wake and rip a shot into the back of the net. The Chretien goal, from Gamache, came at 6:21 and gave Goffstown a 2-0 lead. Then, at 7:33 of the period, Luc Ouellette, who had his best game of the season, set up the next Grizzlie goal. Luc secured the puck in the left wing corner before hitting Theo Milianes with a pass just inside the left wing boards. Milianes took the pass and cut through the circle to fire a shot that barely bounced under the arm, and through Ellis for the goal.

Goffstown had a 3-0 lead with time running down in the second period. The Grizzlies hadn’t been completely immune to any scoring chances against them but when the Warriors had a chance, Madeline Sage made some huge, as well as timely saves to keep the visitors off of the scoreboard. At 12:41 of the period that all changed when Chaz Ziolkowski sprinted out of the left wing corner with the puck after being pinned by Colby Wright and Jackson Burke. Chaz skated a straight line to the low slot without resistance and ripped a shot past Sage to make it 3-1. For a few moments Goffstown no longer appeared to be matching the intensity of their opponent and it cost them. When Isaac McGregor was isolated at the left point and his decision with the puck was somewhere in between a pass and a hard wrap around, Conor Belcher pilfered the puck and burst into the neutral zone on his own. Nobody could catch Belcher en route to a breakaway goal that just had enough mustard to get through the pads of Sage. The score was 3-2 after two periods in favor of Goffstown, but the story to this point was really goaltending. Goffstown held a 32-12 advantage in shots on goal but Jack Ellis was doing everything possible to keep his team in the game. Odd as it may seem, Sage had contributed some tremendous, timely saves in the limited action she had seen which also kept the Grizzlies from falling behind early.

In the final period, the Grizzlies scored in the first 10 seconds and really pulled away from there. On the opening face-off Theo Milianes snagged a loose puck at center ice and quickly hit Jackson Burke with a pass. Burke skated up the left wing and smartly flipped a backhand pass across to Luc Ouellette who pounded the puck into the open net on the east-west pass play. Then something that has happened numerous times to Goffstown in the month of February, happened again, only this time, in their favor. After Ellis made yet another save, on a Chretien shot this time, the Warriors clearing attempt found the stick of Xavier Bibaud. Bibaud quickly let a shot go and the puck hit Winnacunnet traffic in front of the net but dropped right on to the stick of Chretien. Chretien scored while Ellis was still reacting to the initial shot from Bibaud and Goffstown led 5-2 at the 1:56 mark. Then in an example of how the game had really tilted in the Grizzlies’ favor after dominating play for so much of the game, Goffstown scored while shorthanded. This time Milianes broke up a play in his own end and the puck bounced toward Eric DesRuisseaux who wound up and pounded the puck the length of the ice and off of the end boards behind Ellis. Ellis didn’t play the carom correctly and the puck slid out in front of him. Somehow the only player hustling to that spot on the ice was Luc Ouellette who slid the puck into the net immediately for the shorthanded goal at 4:35. Goffstown finished the scoring at 9:49 when Colby Gamache purposely flipped a clearing attempt straight up and off of the boards out to center ice after a defensive zone face-off. Chretien handled the bouncing puck and created a semi-breakaway chance where he shook off the backcheck while making a move and shooting the puck into the net. Goffstown would go on to win it, 7-2. The Grizzlies had 46 shots on goal to just 20 for the Warriors. Both numbers were deceiving for different reasons but the goaltenders both played really well in this game.

Goffstown improved to 12-4 in league play and have just two regular season games remaining. Goffstown travels out to UNH to play a very good Oyster River club on Saturday night, Feb. 22nd at 7pm. Then the Grizzlies wrap up the regular season with their Senior Night against Alvirne-Milford on Feb. 28th at 7:15pm at St. A’s.

NHIAA Hockey:

Updated records.

Goffstown (12-7-0) vs. Winnacunnet (3-13-1)

Sullivan Arena, Goffstown, NH

Wednesday, February 19, 2020. 8:06 PM Start:

Summary:

Goals:

Goffstown: 1-2-4 = 7

Winnacunnet: 0-2-0 = 2

Shots:

Goffstown: 15-17-14 = 46

Winnacunnet: 05-07-08 = 20

Scoring:

1st Goffstown at 1:30. Even. Grady Chretien (37) from Jackson Burke (10).

2nd Goffstown at 6:21. Even. Grady Chretien (38) from Colby Gamache (26).

2nd Goffstown at 7:33. Even. Theo Milianes (3) from Luc Ouellette (5).

2nd Winnacunnet at 12:41. Even. Chaz Ziolkowski unassisted.

2nd Winnacunnet at 13:14. Even. Conor Belcher unassisted.

3rd Goffstown at 0:10. Even. Luc Ouellette (2) from Jackson Burke (11) and Theo Milianes (13).

3rd Goffstown at 1:56. Even. Grady Chretien (39) from Xavier Bibaud (14).

3rd Goffstown at 14:04. SHG. Luc Ouellette (3) from Eric DesRuisseaux (13) and Theo Milianes (14).

3rd Goffstown at 9:49. Even. Grady Chretien (40) from Colby Gamache (27).

Special Teams:

Goffstown Power Play: 0 for 2.

Winnacunnet Power Play: 0 for 3.

Saves:

Goffstown: Maddie Sage  18 of 20. (44:55)

Winnacunnet: Jack Ellis 39 of 46. (45:00)

Standings: Boys Ice Hockey Division II

NOTE: The following are not official NHIAA standings. They are only the accumulation of game results as reported by the athletic directors and coaches.

Click here to view the schedules for all of the teams below.

Sage Page

~ Thank you Maureen, your photos are fantastic!

Honestly these articles are so much better with your contributions.

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The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.