Wednesday night’s clash with the Yachtsmen showed the Red Eddies just how tough those potential playoff games will be. Falmouth scored late in each period and quieted the Red Eddies’ power play in a 5-0 Class A boys’ hockey victory at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

“We’re playing a tough schedule … one of the toughest schedules in the league this year. Some games we’ve been winning, some games we’ve been losing,” Latuscha said. “Unfortunately, they capitalized on mistakes that we made, whether it be defensively or offensively.”

The teams headed to the locker rooms tied after the first period, only for Parker Wyatt to find the back of the net from the right point with 1:31 left to put the Yachtsmen (5-1) up 1-0.

The second period was filled with a plethora of penalty minutes, as of the 15 minutes in the frame less than six were spent at even strength. The Red Eddies (3-3) had four power plays in the second, including a 5-on-3, but were held out of the goal each time.

“We work a lot on specialty teams,” Falmouth head coach Deron Barton said. “Our penalty kill is probably one of the strongest components of our game right now.”

Falmouth goalie Spencer Pierce robbed Max Giard seconds after the Yachtsmen killed off EL’s last power play of the period, as Giard slinked through the defense only to be denied by the Falmouth netminder.

The Yachtsmen again lit the lamp late in a period, as Chris Camelio redirected a Reece Armitage shot from the left point into the net with 50 seconds remaining in the second.

“The end of the period they maybe had a little bit more depth,” Latuscha said. “The team that has a little bit more depth is going to capitalize on the mistakes that you’re going to make and they’re going to win the game. They did. And we were tired at the end of the period.”

Pierce made two of his biggest stops during EL’s final power play in the third period, sprawling on a loose puck eight seconds into the man-advantage, then blocking a point-blank try with seven seconds left.

“Without him, we don’t win the game,” Barton said of Pierce (16 saves).

Falmouth put the game away with a flurry of goals in the final six minutes. Robbie Armitage fed Marcus Cady to make it 3-0, then the two switched places less than two minutes later. Theo Hembres scored the final goal 20 seconds after Armitage’s tally and with 4:16 left on the clock.

“We stayed out of the penalty box. That’s first and foremost,” Barton said of the late flurry. “And we had two cycles of good quality shifts, with possession of the puck down low in their end. You could kind of see the confidence building, and then eventually the puck goes in.”

The Red Eddies finished 0 for 7 on the power play, totaling just nine shots with the man-advantage.

“It does hurt,” Latuscha said of his team’s power-play woes.

Devin Dumont made 23 saves in goal for the Red Eddies, who travel to Lawrence/Skowhegan next Wednesday.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com