NEWBURYPORT — The Masconomet hockey team came to the Graf Rink last night, looking to change things up.
But Triton wasn't going to let the Chieftains' new energy cramp its style, pulling out the 5-3 win in what was at times an ugly game.
"If ever there was an ugly win, that was it right there," said Triton coach Drew Wile. "I give them all the credit, they played very hard. They played a little more desperate than us. We gutted it out. Some guys stepped up, but it was an ugly win."
Triton (12-4-1 overall, 10-1-1 CAL) sits a game ahead of Lynnfield (13-2-1 overall, 9-2-1 CAL) in the CAL standings. Both teams have two league games remaining.
Masco seemed to start the game with a chip on its collective shoulders, swarming Triton goalie Carl Orlandi in the first minute and a half of play.
But the Chieftains were only able to get off one shot before Trevor Surette caught a major penalty for leg-checking Jared Salmon. Salmon hit the deck and had to be helped off the ice. The resulting four-minute timeout for Surette resulted in Triton's first goal of the night to avenge the fallen comrade.
Mike Fish shot one past Masco goalie Matt Cardillo's right side, assisted by Derek Donley.
But Masco came right back, scoring on a rebound past Orlandi's left skate, courtesy of Mitch Maffeo, assisted by Alec DiGiorgio.
The Chieftains (6-9-0, 5-7-0) also had a good start to the second period, scoring five minutes in when Evan Fogarty took advantage of another rebound and slipped the puck past a diving Orlandi's left skate, assisted by Nick Alekna.
The Vikings answered back five minutes later, when Matt Velonis hopped the puck over Cardillo's head, assisted by Tucker Johnson and Nate Williamson, to tie things 2-2.
Johnson started the third period with a pair of goals, the first assisted by Williamson and the second a one-hopper assisted again by Williamson and Jake Wood.
With a little over five minutes left, Chieftain Josh Brown scored on a slap shot that was deflected into the net by Orlandi's upward motion. Orlandi could not be credited with the assist, however, but Chieftain Vinny Zingarelli was.
A minute later, Vikings forward Schyler Reilly plunged the knife into the Chieftains once and for all with a dribbler past Cardillo's left skate, assisted by Mike Fish.
"We continue to struggle to score," said Chieftains coach Bill Blackwell. "Three (points) seems to be our max."
Blackwell further elaborated on his team's game plan coming into the night.
"They're a good, solid team," said Blackwell. "So we just figured, let's come with some energy, see what happens. We tried some things, we hung around for a while, but the cream rises to the top at the end. We talked this week about coming with positive energy. Instead of sitting back and worrying about positions, we just said, let's just go with the attack and see what happens."
"Masco's well-coached," said Wile. "But we have to understand that we have to play a certain way to be successful, and we got away from that way too many times. We just can't do that. Hopefully, it was a learning lesson because we've got four more games to go until tournament time. So, we've got a lot more things to clean up. That's our goal, to get ready for the tournament and a good run."
With Newburyport set to take on Triton Saturday night, Wile joked; "Who do we have Saturday?"
"The place will be packed," Wile said of the Newburyport game. "It will be just like the old days, in the '80s and the early '90s. That's what these kids play for, and they should be excited for it. If you can't get up for this game, you've got issues."
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