By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Big saves lead to big goals.

If that’s what Don Cherry says, it must be true.

After Bangor barely survived an Edward Little breakaway in overtime Saturday night, it regrouped in a timeout and looked to the words of Cherry, the infamous former coach and broadcaster.

“It was amazing,” said Bangor coach Dan Kerluke. “Aaron (Buzzell) made a huge save. We watch (Cherry’s) tapes all the time. His biggest thing on every tape is always after a big save is a big goal. One of the players said that on the bench after the save, and what do you know? The next thing you know, it’s a big goal.”

Just 18 seconds after the game-saving stop, T.J. Vanidestine was alone in the high slot and fired a shot through traffic to lift the Rams to a 1-0 hockey win.

“I can’t say enough about the way our kids played,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “They played hard. They played a very sound hockey game at all ends of the ice. We played tough in the defensive zone and played tough in the offensive zone. We had plenty of scoring opportunities, and we didn’t give up many quality scoring opportunities.”

Seventh-place EL (9-8) outshot second-ranked Bangor 38-31, but could not beat Buzzell. The best chance came when Nick Merrill cleared the puck from the defensive zone for Matt Nadeau at center ice. He broke in alone with Kevin Pontbriand on his left. Nadeau dished the puck to the left side for a Pontbriand shot, but Buzzell got across the crease and knocked it wide with 5:01 left in overtime.

“It was a rolling puck,” said Belleau. “Matt said it was a rolling puck. He dished it off, and it was just a little bit outside.”

Bangor (11-3) came right back after its timeout. Nick Payson had the puck in the left corner while Dylan George and Vanidestine followed. George headed for the net, and Vanidestine trailed behind. He took a Payson pass and won it with 4:43 left.

“At first, I didn’t know how deep I was,” said Vanidestine. “I was just trying to see where I was in the zone. The defenseman kept backing up. I just took it in a few steps and fired it through the screen.”

The constant offensive pressure at both ends kept Buzzell and EL netminder Kris Bennett busy most of the night.

“The whole game everyone was battling,” said Vanidestine. “They had plenty of chances. We had plenty of chances. Both goalies played amazing.”

EL had some prime chances in the second period. Nadeau had a breakaway, but his high shot went over the net. Merrill had a one-timer in front that was stopped.

Bangor’s Payson had numerous chances. He had a shorthanded knuckler late in the second period. He had a wrap-around attempt and a wrister hit the post early in the third. He also had a power-play try and a point-blank shot late in the period as Bangor outshot EL 11-9 in the third.

“He kind of cut his lines down a little bit, and I think that gave us the juice to keep our legs going,” said Kerluke. “The kids played well. They kept playing hard. We got it deep and kept forechecking.”

EL went 0-for-4 on the power play and gave Bangor just one crack at the man advantage.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” said Belleau. “I’m very critical of my team when they don’t work hard, but at the same time, they need to be recognized when they play a good hockey game. I certainly recognized that tonight.”