The Panthers score three times in the third period to pull away from the Blue Devils.
By Peter Mullen
Staff Writer

YARMOUTH – In the eyes of Lewiston coach Tim Smith, it all came down to hunger.

North Yarmouth Academy netted three unanswered goals in the final period Tuesday evening to pull away and post a 7-3 Class A hockey win over the Blue Devils at Travis Roy Arena.

“Obviously in the third period NYA needed the Heal points more than we did,” said Smith. “They came out and took it to us. They beat us throughout the period.”

The last 15 minutes were in sharp contrast to the opening frame and to some extent the second period as well. But despite the effort early on, Lewiston always seemed to be looking up.

The Panthers broke the ice three minutes into the game when Micah Mangini fed a streaking Dan Bartlett down the left wing. The senior forward flicked a wrist shot from about 30 feet past Lewiston goalie Nick Langlais for the first of his three goals in the game.

Thirty-seven seconds later Lewiston’s Jake Girardin evened things up as went in alone on the Panthers’ Kevin Santillo. Adam Wilding set up the play when, in his own neutral zone, he found Girardin heading into the slot. Wilding’s long pass was right on target then Girardin deked left, then went right to notch the goal.

NYA moved in front again with 6:17 remaining in the first when Bartlett weaved his way through the Lewiston defense and closed in alone on Langlais.

“We talk about getting in the way of the guy in the neutral zone,” said Smith. “Quite honestly I think it is something we need to improve on. When you try to poke check the puck away from a couple of the best skaters in the state, 9 time out of 10 they are going to skate around you. (Bartlett) is definitely going to skate around you.”

Lewiston fought back yet again with a power play goal to make it a 2-2 game at the first intermission. Wilding, from deep in the zone, passed it out to Scott Geoffroy near the right point. Geoffroy’s slap shot found its way through heavy traffic for the score.

NYA posted a pair of goals in the second period, one on the power play before the Devils could counter.

With NYA’s Than Wellin serving time for slashing, Jason Dube found himself tied up in the slot. He managed to get the puck to Adam Longchamps to his left for the score.

“We got down and we tied it up,” said Smith. “We got down again and we got within a goal, but we couldn’t do anything to capitalize. I was really confident we were going to come out in the third period a little better.”

Lewiston had a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes late in the second and into the third but could not score.

The final period was all Panthers as the home team outshot Lewiston, 10-3.

“I think killing that 5-on-3 was a big life for our kids,” said NYA coach Kent Hulst. “We had a gameplan going in and it was starting to go and the guys got better at it. We got some timely goals when we needed them.”

Langlais made 22 saves for Lewiston while Santillo stopped 16 shots for NYA.

“It was a big win for Heal Points,” said Hulst. “It was also a big win against one of the top teams.”

pmullen@sunjournal.com

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