The Kids Come Back – Goffstown Hockey

– The Kids Come Back – Goffstown Hockey –

– Goffstown at Nashua South Pelham – Conway Arena – Nashua, NH –

Nashua South Pelham scored on the power play to take a 1-0 lead. The Goffstown hockey scored the next four goals and willed their way to a very tough road win. Falling back is only maintainable if the fall back is followed by a come back.

 

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Goffstown is 6-4 in league play. In four of those six wins, the Goffstown hockey team was behind. All four times they were even behind in the 2nd period. But credit has to be given to their resolve and ability to come back.

Last night the Grizzlies piled up the shot totals on Riley Pelletier in net for Nashua South Pelham, but at the other end, in the 1st period alone, Kyle Bennett made a pair of ‘normally this should be a goal against, but not tonight’ saves on Grizzlies turnovers directly in front of him. Both of these goaltenders had to wonder at times if their teammates had left the rink without them.

Nashua South Pelham scored the only goal of the first period, and it was on the power play. I heard some Goffstown fans complain that Jackson Horne had been hauled down which left the back door open for the goal. But I saw it as a shove in the back knocked Doughty down which partially upended Horne as he had his eyes up and didn’t see the fallen player. The Doughty scored on a great pass from Byrne after a pass from Landsteiner. Power play goal. Grizzlies feel right at home, down 1-0.

As the first and second period wore on, and Goffstown kept getting scoring chances while Kyle Bennett was constantly erasing mistakes. I started to worry a bit. Seriously, there was one adult (he looked old enough to be an adult, like 50+ years old maybe), who startled me some by how much he was yelling, and by how red his face was getting. At one point, as I sat completely by myself with my hockey backpack, spiral note pad, and my iPad that I use to track the clock, goals, and shots, this man came and stood beside me, maybe more in front of me.

 

 

I thought, this is a bit odd. Then I thought, maybe he was temporarily banned from the NSP cheering (I am not sure much of their guttural bellows was cheering) section that amassed behind the glass at one end of the rink. Anyways, I could still see most of the ice, so I let it be. Then this warm, loving man, I’m sure, starting screaming at things that I assume only he saw. Because even if you were there protesting the cruelty inflicted on frozen water by the mere skating with steel blades on the ice surface, there wasn’t enough happening to be that emotional, or irrational about.

As his face and entire head turned shades of red that started to look like the color of the Grizzlies road jerseys, I looked up and asked, sincerely, “Are you okay”? I was seriously concerned. It wasn’t sarcastic. I thought there may be something wrong. He came to stand in front of a seated person on a side of the building that was filled with seated people and carry on like he was watching an epic struggle between good and evil that he could do nothing about.

Perhaps the simple, sincere question broke him. He looked at me dazed, and walked back to the end of the rink with the other juvenile behaving people that were impersonating adults in their appearance. I thought of the word, ‘desperation – a state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behavior’. And coincidentally, aren’t many rashes red.

Goffstown was able to score a pair of goals in the second period, and another pair in the final period. The Grizzlies skated out of Nashua with a 4-1 win.

The Goffstown hockey team still has two more games this week. They play a home game against the 3rd place Oyster River Bobcats (7-3-2) tomorrow night at Sullivan Arena. The Bobcats jumped past the Lebanon/Upper Valley contingent after Lebanon lost to St. Thomas last night and Oyster River beat Bishop Brady-MV-Concord Christian.  Then the Grizzlies hit the road for a Saturday night affair out in Keene to play Mon-Fall Mountain-ConVal (1-11-0).

Let’s get to the Goffstown hockey goals that they scored last night in Nashua.

 

 

1. First goal, tie game, 1-1. On the power play. Zack Tarrier won the offensive zone face-off to Tyler Lessard, who passed to Sam Chapman. Chapman moved the puck through the corner, behind the net and over to Brock Bennett.  The return pass got tipped by the D and the puck went from Bennett to Chapman for a great shot. Pelletier made a nice pad save. Lessard one-timed the rebound into the net for the goal with Nick Caldwell right behind him. Caldwell had wandered into the low slot, leaving the top of the zone wide open, but the Grizzlies made it count. PPG – Lessard (11) from S. Chapman (7) and B. Bennett (5). 1-1.
2. Goffstown takes the lead for good. Remember when our kids were young hockey players and they would gather on the ice at times before a face-off and discuss their secret plans and plays, dreams essentially, realistic or not, and then try to execute on their innocence of youth genius. After a whistle and change of personnel, Jackson Horne and Nick Caldwell lined up on D, while Dylan Ellbeg took the draw with Gavin Diodati to his left and Tyler Lessard riding shotgun in his left hip pocket. As they lined up Lessard pointed Diodati to his spot and chatted up Ellbeg and the others. And I thought, here are the Squirts, or the Pee Wees making up their own plays. I smiled. Then I laughed when they executed the play flawlessly. Ellbeg won the draw clean as a whistle, right on to Lessard’s forehand. Diodati crashed the net and a defender rushed Lessard which provided a bit of a screen. Lessard fired, and the puck sliced through the open lane inside the far side post for the goal before Pelletier could fully react. Beautiful. Never stop dreaming. Even Strength – Lessard (12) from Ellbeg (4). GWG. 2-1.
3. The Goffstown Grizzlies get that all important ‘next goal’ in a 2-1 game, 8:18 into the 3rd period. Brock Bennett made nice outlet pass to Gavin Diodati who was racing through center ice. Diodati carried into the O zone but ran in to resistance and the play broke down. Kind of. Ellbeg and Lessard were on the spot and while the puck bounced from stick to stick in no one’s true control, the puck hit off of Ellbeg and met Lessard in their favorite meeting place. In front of the net. The puck had been bouncing all over the place right by the net so Pelletier was scrambling to cover every inch of the net he could. But Lessard is a goal scorer, you can tell by his subtle celly’s. Lessard calmly but quickly reached into his tool bag and pulled out the required tool. A backhand lifted over the outstretched goaltender. That was the tool, and it was true. Even Strength – Lessard (13) from Ellbeg (5) and Diodati (5). Hat Trick. 3-1.
4. Goffstown finishes the scoring with a power play goal. The Grizzlies were in the offensive zone for quite awhile. Austin Campbell, Ellbeg, and Owen Matatall were shooting, passing, getting rebounds, and cycling the puck. Then Campbell sent a puck through Ellbeg to the far circle where Matatall got a great shot on goal. Pelletier made his 40-something-th save, it was a great save. But the rebound came out to Ellbeg who finally ended the possession with a goal. Power Play Goal – Ellbeg (3) from Matatall (5) and Campbell (7). 4-1.

 

 

The Goffstown hockey team improved to 6-4 in league play and gained an extra point in the standings with the victory over a D-I opponent.

 

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NHIAA Hockey:

Monday, February 05, 2024

Conway Arena – Nashua, NH.

Scoring:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 00 – 02 – 02 = 04

Nashua South Pelham: 01 – 00 – 00 = 01

 

 

 

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NHIAA Hockey:

Shots on goal:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 13 – 19 – 15 = 47

Nashua South Pelham: 07 – 07 – 11 = 25

 

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:

1. Ellbeg (2:00-Hooking)
2. Ellbeg (2:00-Cross Checking)
3. S. Chapman (2:00-Tripping)
4. Ellbeg (2:00-Roughing)
5. C. Chapman (2:00-Roughing)
6. Diodati (2:00-Roughing)
7. S. Chapman (2:00-Cross Checking)
8. S. Chapman (2:00-Cross Checking) This was a double minor which counts as two separate penalties, but if you watch it, the whole scene looks like something Vince McMahon might have choreographed.
9. Bench Minor (2:00-Too Many Men)
10. B. Bennett (2:00-Hooking)

Goffstown was 2-for-6 on the power play, while Nashua South Pelham was 1-for-7. If NSP had not been called for a major penalty in the last 5 minutes of the game, they would have held an 8-4 advantage in power play opportunities. The Goffstown Grizzlies took 14 minutes in penalties in the final period, and spent half the period killing 5-on-3 disadvantages.

• Nashua South Pelham – Riley Pelletier made 43 saves on 47 shots (.915).
• Goffstown Grizzlies – Kyle Bennett (Fr.) made 24 saves on 25 shots (.960).

I made notes in my notepad as I have for 20+ years of covering baseball and hockey. Besides penalties, the next highest counts of marks I made in my notes were stars. You know, like ☆, that kind of star. I starred at least 6 different saves or save combos by Kyle Bennett. I didn’t star any saves by Riley Pelletier, because there were too many. I’ll put it this way. If Pelletier and Bennett were not exceedingly above average in the nets last night, this may well have been a 11-8 win for one side or the other. I’m not kidding. Both tendies played well above average.

 

 

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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.