From there on it was all Red Eddies, who finished off host Poland/Gray-New Gloucester/Oak Hill/Leavitt for a 6-3 victory in a Class A North boys’ hockey game at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Saturday night.
The Red Eddies (3-5) trailed for the first time midway through the second when the Kings (2-2-1) scored on the power play to go up 3-2. EL coach Brett Barrett sensed it was a critical moment in the game.
“(Starting goalie Ben Feldman) didn’t have a lot of luck early,” Barrett said. “I think the third goal was definitely not his fault. It was a screen and tip. I figured maybe I would have something to change a little momentum, and Reece (Rodrigue) came in.”
Rodrigue went on to pitch a shutout for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, the offense in front of him came alive.
Ben Lane-Robichaud knotted the game up with just over two minutes to play in the second, burying home Cody Woodward’s second rebound. Eli Thibodeau then gave the Red Eddies the lead for good with 42 seconds before the second intermission, putting the goal in from the left off a rebound from Ben Cassidy’s initial shot from the right.
“We’re starting to learn to stick to the game plan. Keep it simple, get pucks to the net,” Barrett said. “We got a couple nice two-puck goals.”
Eli McBride and Colby Bilodeau (on the power play) scored in the third to make what had been a close game through two periods a much-easier finish.
“It’s nice for the guys to not give up now,” Barrett said. “Before, we’d get down, and that’s where we got in trouble. After a second or third goal, shut down.”
The Red Eddies took the initial lead in the game, with Alex Landry putting them on the board eight minutes in. Connor Cyr then tied it for the Kings with a power-play goal three minutes later, but EL took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission thanks to Bilodeau, who scored on an assist from Cam Sturgis.
The lead soon vanished in the second. Cyr and Theo Mahaleris hooked up for the second time just 21 seconds into the frame. Nate Marcotte then gave the Kings their only lead 8:23 into the second on the power play, keeping the puck in on an EL clear attempt and firing a shot from the point that knocked out Feldman.
“Our effort all night was up and down,” Kings coach Joe Hutchinson said. “The effort wasn’t there in the first period. In the second period, we come out and we played hard. And then we got the 3-2 lead and then we went back to sitting back and relaxing too much.”
The Kings scored on each of their first two power play chances, then fired four shots on net on their third to start the third period. They went on the power play for a fourth time later in the third, but were held without a shot, and all but ended their comeback chances.
“We stopped trying to set it up, and we were rushing everything, and trying to get everything to the net from everywhere and not looking for good looks,” Hutchinson said. “(The power play) was good until then.”
Rodrigue stopped all 11 shots he faced to earn the win in net for the Red Eddies. Feldman made nine saves.
Kings goalie Ashton Dozois stopped 30 of 36 shots.
“He’s been playing well,” Hutchinson said. “It’s a lot of shots. I’m not happy with that.
“I’m just looking for a consistent effort, and we didn’t have it tonight. But give it to EL, they played hard for three periods. They out-played us, and they wanted it more than we did.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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