AUBURN — Brody Emond gave Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester a lead and the Kings never looked back.
The Kings defeated St. Dom’s 3-1 in a boys hockey game Wednesday at Norway Savings Bank Arena. It’s the second straight season the Kings have defeated the Saints.
Kings coach Jason Rouleau said his team did everything right, which helped Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-NG grab an early 2-0 lead, with both goals scored by Edmond.
“One, I asked them to be the hardest working team on the ice, and they did,” Rouleau said. “I asked them to play our systems, and they did; and I asked them to attack the net, and they did. We were rewarded with two goals in the first period.”
Ian Guerin nearly backstopped the Kings to a shutout by making 19 saves.
“Right off the bat, I came to the rink nice and early and got focused,” Guerin said. “The boys came around and we watched some film, got focused, and got ready. We came out buzzing right off the first puck drop.”
The game was played at both teams’ home ice. The Saints were designated as the visiting team, and according to coach Dan D’Auteuil, they played like they had a two-hour bus ride to the arena.
“We didn’t show up. If we were taking a bus, the saying, ‘We didn’t get off the bus,’ would be the perfect thing for that first period,” D’Auteuil said.
St. Dom’s appeared to take a 1-0 lead with under five minutes to play in the first period when Ridge Dionne’s shot from the point found the back of the net. However, the officials ruled that Dionne was offside because, while straddling the blue line in the offensive zone, he lost control of the puck for a split second and tried to keep it on the blue line but it rolled into the neutral zone and then he brought it back into the offensive zone.
“It was the right call; it was offsides,” D’Auteuil said. “There’s nothing you can do. I don’t think that affected us too much — just keep going. We couldn’t get it going until that 5-on-3 (in the third).”
The Kings took a two-goal lead heading into the first intermission when Brody Emond skated to the net and beat St. Dom’s goalie Jayden Lynn (14 saves) top shelf.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first, a blocked shot sent the puck into the Kings’ offensive zone, and Emond chased it down. He skated toward Lynn, but a Saints defender knocked him off the puck.
Emond, though, got the puck back and his low shot beat Lynn through the five-hole just before time expired in the period.
“He was at the right place on two different occasions, and he was able to bury a couple of goals for us,” Rouleau said.
The second goal knocked the wind out of the Saints’ sail.
“That killed us, that killed the momentum,” D’Auteuil said. “It was one of those situations where we didn’t man up. The puck was sitting there for at least 10 seconds and no one cleared it.”
Meanwhile, Emond’s second goal gave the Kings energy.
“The boys were buzzing. It was great momentum to bring to the second period,” Guerin said. “Everyone was happy.”
Both teams struggled to generate scoring opportunities in the second period.
Conner Boulay added some cushion for the Kings early in the third period when he skated in tight on Lynn and pitched a shot into the top of the net.
St. Dom’s had a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play when Boulay got called for elbowing and the Kings received a bench minor.
The Saints hovered around the Kings’ crease, but had an opportunity stopped when the refs blew the play dead, despite the puck being loose in the slot.
Shortly thereafter, Riley Daigle blasted a shot past Kings goalie Ian Guerin with 2:40 remaining in the game.
“We were trying to draw up moving the puck to the outside,” D’Auteuil said. “We knew we had a 5-on-3 and we were trying to set up two guys opposite to their top guy in the triangle.”
Guerin made some key stops throughout the game.
“Ian played really well; he was solid between the pipes,” Rouleau said. “He kept us in the game.”
The Saints struggled to pull Lynn after the power play goal because they iced the puck a few times in the final two minutes.
“We had a play that sent the guy flying — it wasn’t cleared the right way,” D’Auteuil said. “We sent it too hard on the first two.”
Forrest St. Laurent, Will Keach, Boulay, Luke Gladu and Max Thibault had assists for Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester.
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