Early And Late – Goffstown 3 at Dover 5

February 04, 2023 – Early And Late: This was a good matchup for the Goffstown Grizzlies. The game was quite competitive. The Goffstown hockey team played well for stretches of this game, but they got beat early and late. That was the difference in their 5-3 loss at Dover.

The first part of early and late is the early part. From the opening face-off of this game, Dover set the tone. Owen Culcasi received a pass from Kyle Behen and skated up the left wing unimpeded. He ripped a shot at point blank range. Ethan Santoro made a nice shoulder save. The rebound bounced out front, and Dover was there to put the puck in the net. Logan Spagna, surrounded by three Grizzlie defenders was able to win the puck and get the goal. Spagna, as it turned out, seemed to be in some key places, early and late.

For the next several minutes, the Dover hockey team played like their engines had been running for quite awhile before the puck dropped. They were playing with a much better speed and intensity than the Goffstown hockey team. Eventually, Goffstown got their legs going little by little. By the end of the period they had closed a huge deficit in shots on goal, to just a 13-9 edge to Dover. But they did trail on the scoreboard, 2-0.

Dover scored their second goal on the power play. The Goffstown Grizzlies had taken a bench minor penalty for too many skaters on the ice. With a Goffstown defenseman way out along the boards, Spagna worked the puck low to Culcasi. Culcasi stepped from behind the goal line and fired a shot at the top corner and hit Santoro’s shoulder again (like the first shift of the game). The rebound came out to the other post where Brady McDonough poked the puck home for the power play goal, and a 2-0 lead.

The reason there is mention of early and late is because, in between, the Grizzlies battled back to tie this game twice. First, Brandon Bograd was hauled down from behind on a breakaway bid that ended being called a major penalty on Dover. The call was for boarding. I am not sure it was boarding, although Bograd did get hit hard and eventually slid into the boards with the Dover player still on him, sort of. Bograd was definitely shaken up as the hit came up high and directly from behind. Bograd ended up being okay, thankfully.

This gave the Grizzlies an opportunity to score multiple goals in a power play scenario, as the Dover player would have to serve all 5 minutes of the major penalty. Goffstown scored twice in the first 1:13 of the penalty time. Suddenly the game was tied and the visitors still had 3:47 left of power play time.

The first power play goal for the Goffstown hockey club came from Tyler Lessard. Dover cleared the puck for a second, but Zack Tarrier retrieved the puck quickly and sent a pass to Jake Klardie on the right wing. Klardie re-entered the zone and was stood up and stopped along the wall. Lessard was there, grabbed the puck on the wall, and did a little hop and skip with the puck to avoid a check and get to the face-off dot in the circle. Just as Lessard took a hit approaching the slot, he let a shot fly. The shot was true and the puck found the twine. Power play goal, Lessard from Klardie and Tarrier, 2-1.

47 seconds after the Goffstown Grizzlies got on the board, Klardie scored on the power play. Brennan Pierce blasted a shot from the left point but it was well wide, and high. The puck caromed off of the end boards and halfway out of the zone. Tarrier picked up the puck on the half-wall and took an innocent enough shot on goal from the top of the circle. But shots are a good thing, and this shot was saved but there was a rebound. Jake Klardie was right there to shovel the rebound into the net and the game was tied, 2-2. Klardie from Tarrier and Pierce, on the power play.

After the second straight power play goal, Dover made a noticeable change in their effort and intensity on the penalty kill. They did take another penalty though. Goffstown do anything with the brief 5-on-3 advantage and then they took two penalties in a row. Dover did cash in on their power play opportunity as well, a 4-on-3 advantage, and they were back in front, 3-2. Jacob Lapierre end up in the slot, on his knees, with the puck, and he wired a shot that beat Santoro up high. I think the pace surprised everyone. That shot looked like it went in but play continued for another second until Brady McDonough tapped in the ‘rebound’.

After two periods, the Grizzlies trailed, 3-2. All three goals scored in the period came on power play chances. There were 13 minutes in penalties called in the middle period between the two teams.

Goffstown tied the game once again, this time at 3-3, in the final period. From out of nowhere the Grizzlies struck for an amazing goal. Dover dumped the puck into the zone. Santoro eased the puck to the side and Brennan Pierce grabbed it. Pierce looked up and made a somewhat risky flip out of the zone type pass that split everyone and ended up on Nick DiMarzio’s stick at center ice. This was a breakaway chance.

DiMarzio lost the handle for a second but he was behind the D when he put a backhand shot on net. Brett Davis made the save as he slid over to, and outside of, the nearside post. But the puck stayed behind, right in the crease area all by itself. Max Ouellette was next on the scene and he slammed the puck into the net for the even-strength, game-tying goal with 6:03 to play. Ouellette from DiMarzio and Pierce.

Then came the late part of early and late. Logan Spagna scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the game, with 4:04 left to play, and with 2:57 left to play. Both goals were unassisted, from the same face-off dot. One move to the outside, shot and score. One move to the inside, shot and score. Great individual plays in both instances. In the beginning and in the end, early and late, Dover, or at least Logan Spagna, seemed to want this victory just a little bit more. Final score, Dover hockey 5, Goffstown hockey 3.

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.