Hockey: Goffstown 3 at John Stark-Hopkinton 1

The atmosphere was festive and felt like a big playoff game on the snowy campus of New England College. The old rink was packed with fans of both schools as well as players and fans of hockey teams from other area school districts. There was no place to park anywhere near the rink. Nor was there any place to walk except to mingle with the auto traffic that choked every inch of visible pavement. Some people even drove to the campus and went home without seeing the game because they couldn’t get near the place. The draw was the undefeated John Stark-Hopkinton General Hawks hosting D2 Goffstown in a highly anticipated hockey match up. The game did not disappoint. Goffstown skated out of town with a thrilling 3-1 victory. They beat a team, on their home ice, on Senior night, that had an overall record of 18-0 this season, they are D3 defending champions and had won 21 straight games.

It was clear to see early on why John Stark-Hopkinton (JSH) is dominating Division III hockey this season, including wins over a few D2 teams. They are big, they skate well, and they have excellent goaltending. Another thing that showed up on the very first shift, JSH was already making their first line change while Goffstown still possessed the puck in the offensive end. The Grizzlies had the puck a lot. Some of the best defense is keeping the other team’s offense from possession. The General Hawks’ overall ability to skate was the biggest reason that the Goffstown offensive pressure didn’t result in more shots on goal as they blocked and poke-checked shot attempts constantly. The end result was a tightly played, intense game featuring two good teams playing excellent hockey.

Goffstown’s Kyle LaSella earned his 20th career win in net for the Grizzlies. That might not sound like a big deal but when you consider that just 3 seasons ago, the Grizzlies had no goaltenders in school. LaSella and Curtis McKay, neither of whom ever played hockey before, not only took up the sport but started playing goalie from scratch. Incredible. That team went 12-6 in the regular season. Fast forward to the present, and Kyle has 10 wins this season, and last night may have been his best one yet.

The first period was a bundle of nerves, at least for some of us fans. The teams played at a high level right from the beginning. Nobody scored in the opening period but Goffstown definitely had the better of the chances even though they also killed off two penalties. Overall I though Goffstown played one of their more disciplined games of the entire year. After one period, the Grizzlies led the shot count 10-4.

In the second period, the skating levels stayed up near a fever pitch to start. Goffstown ended up drawing a pair of penalties within a single minute. JSH killed the first penalty but a split second after the penalty ended, Goffstown scored. Griffin Cook dropped a pass for Colby Gamache who let a great shot go towards the net. The shot was slightly tipped by Colin Burke and got past Jameson Bourque giving Goffstown a 1-0 lead at 4:54 on the power-play. 20+ seconds later the General Hawks rang a shot off of the crossbar behind LaSella. Then, at 6:01 of the period Brett Patnode scored from the slot on a feed from Nolan Sauer. The game was tied 1-1 with half a game to go. Both teams kept playing at a high level. At 7:15 Kyle LaSella made a big save on JSH superstar Paul Molnar. Then at 12:51 Grady Chretien blasted a shot past Bourque but it clanked off of the post so loudly that everyone in the arena could hear it. The period would end with the score tied at 1-1, and the level of play was way up there.

By the time the third period started nobody was sure what would give. The home fans cheered for every single body check or body to body contact when initiated by the General Hawks. They also cheered any time Molnar and others had the puck on the offensive. They were ready to come completely unglued when Cooper Rivers broke in on LaSella on a breakaway at 6:34. Kyle though, made a huge save, and kept the score at 1-1. Then, finally, the Grizzlies broke the tie at 9:59. Griffin Cook got a shot past Jameson Bourque from the slot area. The play was set up by Colby Gamache and Sebastian Beal. The Grizzlies led 2-1. With about 90 seconds left in the game, JSH pulled Bourque for an extra attacker. Goffstown held strong and ultimately Grady Chretien was awarded an empty net goal at 14:56 when he was hauled down twice en route to the empty net. Instead of a penalty shot versus no goalie, the goal was awarded. Final score, Goffstown 3, John Stark-Hopkinton 1. Shots on goal were 25 apiece. Two good teams and they played a great hockey game. JSH was 13-3-2 last season and then ran the table in the tournament to win the D3 Title. This was their first loss in 360 days. So, they are no fluke. Goffstown plays at Alvirne-Milford on Saturday and has locked up the #3 seed in the upcoming tournament.

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NHIAA Hockey:

Updated Records:

Goffstown (13-3-1)

John Stark (15-1)

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The Sage Page

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