The Upper Montgomery Lightning were simply outclassed by the top ranked Churchill Bulldogs on Monday evening at Cabin John Ice Rink. The final score was 8-0. It was clear from the outset of the game that the Bulldogs had not forgotten last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff matchup between the programs. As heavy underdogs, the Lightning took the eight time Maryland Student Hockey League state champions to a shootout after playing to a one all tie through regulation and overtime. Upper Montgomery eventually succumbed by a single penalty shot goal in a five round shootout skills competition.
The first period of the game was actually pretty competitive even through Churchill had the greater percentage of possession time. Both teams fired six shots on goal during the opening period of play. Unfortunately for Upper Montgomery, a fifteen second span four minutes into the game spelled doom. With the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the puck was swept behind the net and was collected by Churchill forward Alex Zhang. He skated toward the left point and passed the puck to his forward partner Asher Wang. Wang skated high in the offensive zone near the mid-point of the blue line. His wrist shot was several feet far wide of the net near side. The puck bounced off the boards and into the back of Lightning 9th grade goalie Ilan Shterenberg’s legs and then caromed back into the net. The unfortunate ricochet put Churchill in front on a play where if the shot was closer to the net it would have been saved by Shterenberg, or Shterenberg would have remained in his crease and the the puck would have caromed into the slot instead of off of the young netminder.
On the same shift fifteen seconds later, the score would grow to 2-0 Churchill. With an Upper Montgomery defender skating with the puck behind their own goal, the puck bounced off the skates of Churchill forward Aiden Pham in the right corner. Pham had entered the offensive zone heavy on the forecheck. Churchill center Daniel McNelis picked up the loose puck and cut hard to the net. While on his backhand he stuffed the puck through Shterenberg’s five hole. It was a second broken play goal in a very short amount of time. At the six minute mark of the first period Upper Montgomery went to the powerplay when Churchill goalie Mac Glazer was called for a delay of game penalty. The Upper Montgomery powerplay struggled to control possession of the puck and yet another skater advantage went to waste for the Lightning who have failed to score on the powerplay all season long.
A minute into the second period Lightning forward Henry Honacki was called for checking from behind. Upper Montgomery went to the penalty kill but would not have Honacki available for twelve minutes as the checking from behind penalty also comes with an automatic ten minute misconduct penalty. Upper Montgomery was fortunate to make it through the two minute disadvantage as Churchill continually fired pucks at Shterenberg.
Four minutes into the second period, the onslaught commenced. Wang scored again to make the game 3-0 and effectively ended the competitive portion of the contest. Churchill had possession of the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The puck was poke checked to Wang and he skated around the outside of the right faceoff circle. He continued around the circle and cut towards the net while firing a wrist shot from a bad angle along the goal line short side high over Shterenberg’s left shoulder.
A minute and a half later, McNelis tallied his second goal of the game. Churchill defender Matthew Kim had control of the puck on the left wing of his defensive zone. He passed the puck up the left wing to Churchill forward Qin Lai in the neutral zone. Lai skated into the Lightning defensive zone where he was met by Lightning forward Bradley Cupples. Cupples knocked Lai off the puck and sent the puck to the left side of the defensive zone. McNelis reached the puck first and skated back through the slot to the right faceoff circle. McNelis fired the puck back across the grain far side past Shterenberg’s stick and into the net.
The score remained 4-0 for the next nine minutes even though Churchill continued to press and wound up badly outshooting Upper Montgomery seventeen to four in the second period. In the final twenty two seconds of the middle period, the Churchill lead would explode. First, Churchill high scoring forward Zachary Silver scored to make it 5-0. In the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, Wong passed the puck across the zone to the left faceoff circle. Silver’s one time slap shot from the left faceoff circle was saved by Shterenberg. Behind the net, the rebound was collected by Wang. The puck bounced in front past Lightning forward Brandon Bernard. Silver immediately fired once again from the bottom of the left faceoff circle and beat Shterenberg short side on his second chance.
In an effort to preserve the young goaltender, the Lightning coaching staff inserted senior netminder Landon Bernard into the game. Without time to properly warm up, Bernard was pierced on his first shot attempt. McNelis beat the buzzer and extended the Churchill lead to 6-0 as the horn sounded. Deep in his defensive zone, Churchill defender William Standish reversed the puck behind his net to his defensive partner Alexander Bazyluk in the left corner. Bazyluk sent the puck up ice to Lai in the neutral zone. Lai passed the puck down the left wing to McNelis who was streaking into the Lightning defensive zone. McNelis shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle past Bernard short side low. For McNelis it was his hat-trick goal.
The third period was played with much less intensity than the opening two periods of the game. The McNelis goal with one second remaining in the second period pushed the game into running clock for the entirety of the third period. Five minutes into the third period Wang scored his hat-trick goal. Glazer stopped the puck behind his net and passed the puck into the left corner to Kim. Kim nudged the puck further up the left wing boards to Wong. Facing the boards, Wong made a nifty between the legs breakout pass to Silver firing out of the defensive zone. Silver went past a pinching Lightning defender at the point and skated all the way into the Lightning defensive zone. On a two on one break with Wang, Silver fed Wang in the slot. Wang’s shot went into the far side of the net past Bernard.
A minute later McNelis was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for complaining to the referees in a 7-0 game. Upper Montgomery again failed to score on the powerplay, but the extra skater advantage was not without excitement. While shorthanded, Wong was hooked from behind on a clear breakaway by Lightning forward Nathan Cassel. Wong was awarded a penalty shot. He came down the left side of the ice and weaved through the slot before heading back to the left hand side of the ice. His forehand wrister high to the stick side was shoved away by Bernard’s blocker.
As the game was winding down, with just over a minute remaining, Churchill would score their final goal of the night. At center ice, Upper Montgomery’s defense attempted to dump the puck into the Churchill defensive zone. The puck hit Zhang and careened forward sending him down the left wing alone on a breakaway. He cut to the center of the ice, faked a forehand, and wrapped the puck around Bernard’s left leg pad.
Game Notes:
- Upper Montgomery was outshot by Churchill 32-18, including 17-4 in the second period.
- Philip Shkeda’s four game goal scoring streak ended.
- The Lightning’s futility on the powerplay continued. Upper Montgomery is now 0-20 on traditional powerplays on the season, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
- Upper Montgomery will try to get back on the winning track when the team meets the Churchill 2 Bulldogs on Friday, December 8th. Game time is 10:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Daniel McNelis—Churchill Center—3 Goals
Second Star—Asher Wang—Churchill Forward—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Joshua Wong—Churchill Forward—2 Assists