Hockey: Goffstown 2 vs. Oyster River 6

Goffstown Falls Behind, Battles Back, But Falls Short

The Oyster River Bobcats came to town on Wednesday night for a game with Goffstown. Goffstown came in to play with an 8-5-1 record while Oyster River entered at 9-3-0, so a win for the Grizzlies could allow them to gain on teams ahead of them in the Division II Standings.

With four games against four of the best teams in D-II over the space of eight days, the Grizzlies have a lot at stake this week. Having already lost at Dover and at home against undefeated St. Thomas, Goffstown was hoping for a chance to take a game from the #2 ranked Bobcats. Half way through the game, the Grizzlies trailed, 4-0. They scored the next two goals and trailed, 4-2 after two periods. The next goal would be huge for either team, the difference between a three goal lead for one, or a one goal deficit for the other. Half way through the final period, after several good chances for the home team, it was Oyster River that broke through to score that pivotal goal. Goffstown pulled Ethan Santoro from the net with a minute and a half left in the game but the Bobcats scored about 45 seconds later to make sure that there would be no come back in this one.

I always refer to Oyster River as one of the best coached teams in the state. They play a well structured game and have the ability to really press their opponent while minimizing their own risk. On top of that, they are patient in applying their game plan and trusting that it will yield positive results over time. They will pick their spots to expose their strengths versus a match-up they feel that they can win. For example, their five regular strength goals on Wednesday night came against versions of the same Goffstown line. Like erosion, they just keep wearing opposition down.

The law of averages favors the skilled and the aggressor but it’s not as simple as that. If it was that simple then Ethan Santoro wouldn’t have made the brilliant saves that he made. He denied Jack Caldicott from securing his hat trick goal with a tremendous save on a point blank chance at 11:30 of the second period. Then he snagged another Caldicott bid on a 2-on-1 break set up by Andy Carlson (1 goal-3 assists on the night). At 6:30 of the final period, Santoro slid to his right and turned away the point blank scoring chance after a perfect feed from Carlson. Overall, Santoro played pretty well in net for the Grizzlies. As a competitor always looking to get better, I would bet that Ethan would like a couple of those shots back, but like I said, things often average out in the end.

After Goffstown fell behind, 4-0 despite starting to get more and more scoring chances, they kept on coming. Dylan Ellbeg was in the low slot and tipped a real nice pass from Nick DiMarzio past Claden Daubney to get the Grizzlies on the board at 9:27 of the second period. It was Ellbeg’s second goal of the season, and it came against a team that has only allowed 9 goals over their last 6 games. Goffstown kept pressing to get back into the game. On the power play, at 13:53 of the period, Brennan Pierce scored the hard way. After Brandon Bograd set up Luc Ouellette for a clean look at a monster wrist shot. Ouellette let it fly and the puck exploded toward the net, hitting Pierce in the ribs or thereabouts and directly into the net. There was still more than a period left to play and Goffstown had fought to get back into the game.

Goffstown was outshot 15-4 in the opening period, but rebounded to grab a huge 18-7 advantage in the second period. Oyster River restored order in the final period getting 16 shots on goal and getting a pair of goals to put the game away. Before they scored their 5th goal, Goffstown had some really good looks to cut the lead down to one goal, but they could not beat Daubney in the final period.

With the loss, Goffstown holds on to the 5th spot in the standings, just a half point ahead of Merrimack. Only 7 teams make the tournament this season so every point is vital, as they usually are. Oyster River remains in second place behind the undefeated St. Thomas Saints, and two points ahead of Portsmouth-Newmarket who sits in the #3 spot. It’s getting interesting for sure. The Grizzlies finish the regular season with three more games in the next 8 days. It looks something like this:

02/12/22	at	Somersworth-Coe-Brown		06:00 PM
02/13/22		Nashua North-Souhegan		03:30 PM
02/18/22		Winnacunnet		07:30 PM
03/05/22		Tournament Quarters		TBD

 

I am still thrilled that the kids are out there playing the sport that they love. I hope that continues right through the finals and on into the spring season. I don’t know how this season will end up but I think that the Grizzlies have shown that they can play. They still have an awful lot to say about how their season ends up and I look forward to watching it play out. They are scheduled to finish their regular season games at least 3 days before Dover, and as many as 8 days before many others.

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1st Oyster River at 11:10. Even. Joey Fogg from Curtis Leitz and Lance Abbott. GWG.

 

2nd Goffstown at 13:53. PPG. Brennan Pierce (5) from Luc Ouellette (9) and Brandon Bograd (13).

 

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The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly.

Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.