Southern Connecticut Hockey League

Hamden,CT.

Brian Roche scored 3 goals as Anthony Avitable made 34 saves to lead the CT. Redwings to a 6-2 win over Dragon Club Sunday night. The Redwings tighter defensive play and improvements in puck possession have been key in wearing down their opponents as of late.

With Dragon Club coming off of a frustrating loss, and the Redwings letting go of an early lead in their previous game, both teams made very few mistakes in the first period. It took over 8 minutes for the play to come to a stop after the puck was dropped at the opening face-off, defense was in full swing for both teams. After many attempts, Dragon Club was finally able to put one past Avitable to take a 1-0 lead on a goal from forward Paul Dow. Defenseman Erik Forselius skated into the offensive zone on the far left side, into the corner and found Dow open in the slot, who handled the pass and quickly buried the puck past Avitable. Each team would have the opportunity to go on the power play after calls were made on Dragon Club forward Tory Jacob for a high-stick, and Redwings defenseman Scott Jason for a hold. Excellent passing and quality scoring chances just weren’t enough to beat Avitable and Dragon Club goalie Jason Szerszen as both denied every shot they faced while on the penalty kill in the first period.

Very similar to the first, the opening of the second began with each team playing extremely conservative, only this time the Redwings would strike first after 4 minutes of play. On a 2 on 1, forward Blake Barone made a saucer pass from the right face-off circle which was tape-to-tape right onto Roche’s stick for the tip in. The score now tied at 2, Dragon Club would have one more chance on the power play after Jason was called for holding near the end of the period. Still, nothing seemed to work as the Redwing penalty kill held off the power play and the game remained tied heading into the third. 

At this point, it was still anybody’s game. Judging by the start of the third, it appeared as if the score would be decided more towards the end of the period, as strong defensive play continued to be the strategy for both squads. Things would take a turn for the worse for Dragon Club after Redwings forward Mike Nutcher scored on a rebound after a shot from Barone to take a 2-1 lead. Shortly after, forward Ben Castiline hit forward Shawn Nutcher with a cross-ice pass heading into the zone, who then skated by a defenseman to deke Szerszen and take a 2 goal lead. Still fighting to stay in it, Dragon Club would generate quite a few good scoring chances, but Avitable turned them away, leaving little hope for a comeback. Castiline would go on to assist on goals from Roche and Shawn Nutcher, to finish the night with 3 assists. Barone also recorded 3 assists during the game. Dragon Club forward Kyle Tyll, who has had 5 goals in his last 3 games, would score the lone goal for his team during the third after taking a pass from forward Sean Whelan, powering his way by a defenseman towards the net and getting off a backhand that beat Avitable on his lower left side. The game would finish at a score of 6-2 with the Redwings on top. Szerszen made 19 saves for Dragon Club, who now have a record of 2-4-1. The Redwings took home their second win in 3 games, and improved their record to 2-5.