Hockey coaches want all four lines to contribute during a game.

To L/A Nordiques coach Cam Robichaud’s delight, that is exactly what happened Wednesday afternoon at Falmouth Ice Arena in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in a 12-4 victory over the Cape Cod Islanders.

Each of the Nordiques’ four lines scored on its first shift of the game, giving L/A an early 4-0 lead. Robichaud said it was the first time that has happened in his coaching career.

Kyle Secor gave the Nordiques a 1-0 lead 45 seconds in, and Mike Keller scored 45 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. Josh Malone and Crewz Berry quickly stretched the lead to 4-0.

“That’s something I am pretty excited about this season, it seems we have great depth in all four of our forward lines,” Robichaud said. “They are all pretty equal on any given night.”

Malone had a hat trick in the game, while Josh Sanchez had two goals and two assists. Zack Mullen added a goal and two assists.

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Malone’s second goal made it 5-0. After Tanner Little put the Islanders on the board, Sanchez and Mullin stretched the lead to 7-1 after 20 minutes.

The scoring settled down in the second period as each team had one goal in the period, Andrew McCormerick for the Nordiques and Noah Tambolleo scored his first of two goals for the Islanders.

 “They came back, credit to them,” Robichaud said. “They worked hard in the second period, it was 1-1. …Obviously, naturally, we might have let up a bit since it was 7-1 after the first (period). Obviously, they have some pride and competed a little bit harder.”

Malone capped the hat trick a little more than five minutes into the third. Sanchez, Armand O’Keefe and JP Chauvin also scored in the third for the Nordiques.

Tambolleo’s second goal of the game was assisted by Bangor native Nevin Davialut. Brendan Heayden also scored in the third period for the Islanders. 

The Nordiques were 0-for-5 on the power play, with four of those chances coming in the second and third period. Robichaud decided just to roll out lines and not put out the two specific power play units for the final 40 minutes of the game.

Thirteen of the Nordiques’ 15 skaters had at least a point. Robichaud was pleased Sergi Anisimov’s effort, despite not finding the score sheet.

“Sergi Anisimov had a lot of good plays and he possessed the puck pretty well,” Robichaud said. “He worked hard, he’s a really selfless player, he was dishing the puck trying to set up other guys. He wasn’t just looking to score a goal for him.”

The Nordiques’ road trip continues Friday and Saturday when they take on the Skylands Kings in Stockholm, New Jersey.


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