The Upper Montgomery Lightning will feel the sting of Friday night’s loss to the Wootton Patriots all offseason. In a game in which the Lightning were the far better team, the Patriots’ best player Nathan Barrow rescued Wootton late and advanced the Patriots into a Montgomery Hockey Conference Division Two playoff semifinal game against Blair next Friday night.
The Lightning got off to a flying start and controlled the tempo of the game from the outset. It looked as if Wootton with its fourteen seniors was disinterested playing in the Division Two playoff matchup. A penalty to Wootton center Conor Harris gave Upper Montgomery an early powerplay. However, the skater advantage was short lived as Lightning defender George Benedick was called for holding less than a minute later. It was the beginning of a parade to the penalty box as the poorly officiated game resulted in 19 penalties and four separate ten minute misconduct penalties assessed.
After the penalty to Benedick completed, Upper Montgomery continued to attack and was rewarded with the first goal of the game. Andrew Botti skated the puck from center ice down the left wing boards into the offensive zone. He continued into the corner crossing the goal line. Cutting toward the net he passed the puck out into the high slot area and found Chris Hassett who had maneuvered into the slot. Hassett was wide open. He pivoted and fired a hard, rising wrist shot past the glove of Wootton netminder Julian Piche for the opening score.
Less than a minute later, the lead would grow to 2-0. Andrew Botti cleared the puck in the Lightning defensive zone up the right wing boards to Hassett. Hassett skated with the puck from just outside the blue line down the boards and into the offensive zone. James Botti cut down the slot toward the net. Hassett’s cross crease pass was a beauty, finding Botti’s backhand just inside the left post for a nifty bang-bang deflection past the stick side of Piche.
Maybe the Lightning’s offensive success got the better of the team. A defensive pinch in the offensive zone led to a deflected puck and a three on one Wootton rush up ice. Grady Sellman collected the puck in his defensive zone and centered the puck up ice into the neutral zone to Ilhom Abdulaev. Abdulaev skated down the right wing side and feathered a nice backhand pass through Andrew Botti to Julius Rubin who was in alone in the slot. Rubin swatted the puck five hole past Lightning netminder Landon Bernard to put the Patriots on the board.
With a minute to go in the first period, the Patriots would tie up the game. Just after a roughing penalty to Andrew Botti expired, Nathan Barrow evened the score at two. Martyn Ogorondnikov skated the puck from his defensive position down into the right corner. He lost the puck under pressure from Andrew Botti, but was able to push the puck behind the net. Barrow swooped in and carried the puck around the net from right to left. He open pivoted away from Bradley Cupples and had time and space from a bad angle just below the lower portion of the left faceoff circle. Even with a bad angle toward the net, he fired a wicked wrist shot far side, high and over Bernard’s shoulder for the tying goal. Shots on goal in the first period were even at seven for each team.
The second period was controlled by the Lightning who outshot Wootton fifteen to six. Upper Montgomery skated well and was often able to create good scoring opportunities. The Lightning were helped when Abdulaev took a boarding penalty and was assessed a ten minute misconduct for arguing the call. Then, while shorthanded, Barrow was given a ten minute misconduct for not wearing his mouthpiece despite being warned to do so in the first period. The absence of the two talented Wootton forwards contributed to their lack of offensive push in the second period.
The third period also started off well for the Lightning as they took the lead less than a minute into the frame on a goal by Hunter Cameron. Bradley Cupples won a defensive zone face off in the left faceoff circle directly to the left wing boards where it was picked up by Ethan Hockey. Hockey skated out of the defensive zone up ice. He dumped the puck into the left corner where Cameron collected the puck and skated it around the crease from left to right. Reaching the right faceoff circle, he spun and his attempted wrist shot deflected behind the net short side. Josh Nadler was first to the puck. He circled the net to the weak side moving across the flow of play from right to left. His pass into the slot reached a cutting Cameron whose quick shot beat Piche high to the blocker side.
A minute later Andrew Botti was called for a questionable slashing penalty. He argued the call and was handed an additional ten minute misconduct penalty, effectively keeping him off the ice for almost the remainder of the game. With a few seconds left in Botti’s penalty, Cameron was called for high sticking putting the Lightning down two skaters for eight seconds. Botti’s two minute penalty ended and the Lightning were just down one skater. Near the end of Cameron’s penalty, Wootton tied up the game. A quick passing sequence from Harris to Barrow to Abdulaev and Abdulaev’s shot beat Bernard tying up the game at three with 9:35 left.
Yet another penalty was called on the Lightning just after the two back-to-back Patriots’ powerplays. Again, a bad officiating decision on a non-high stick that was called a high stick on George Benedick. With that penalty winding down, a make up slashing call was assessed to Sellman. Off the defensive zone faceoff, Harris was called for a hit to the head of a Lightning forward. Harris’ penalty was a two minute minor and a ten minute misconduct eliminating him from the rest of the contest. Off the second offensive zone faceoff on the 4-3 powerplay, Barrow won the faceoff back to Walter Cederbrandt who passed the puck across his own crease to Ogorondnikov who skied the puck out of the defensive zone. Barrow outraced the Lightning defense and broke in alone on Bernard. He easily deked Bernard scoring to put the Patriots up 4-3 with six minutes left in the game.
The Lightning still had a chance to even the score as they were on a 5-3 powerplay once Benedick’s penalty expired. Although the Lightning were able to gain the offensive zone and possess the puck, they did not convert. Instead, Barrow jumped on a loose puck and exited the defensive zone up the left wing boards with Abdulaev. They raced up ice on a two on one rush. Drawing the Lightning defender toward him, Barrow slide a pass across to Abdulaev. Abdulaev collected the pass, made a deke, and also slid the puck past Bernard. Two shot handed goals scored a minute apart when Wootton had only three skaters on the ice.
Down 5-3, the Lightning kept pressing. Piche made a few really good saves to maintain the Patriots’ lead. The penalty brigade kept coming as questionable call after questionable call landed additional student athletes in the penalty box. Lightning center Brandon Bernard was called for slashing. While Wootton was on the powerplay they mainly played keep away, passing the puck on the perimeter not allowing Upper Montgomery to gain control. With three minutes to go in the game, Hassett and Wootton defender Andrew Reynolds were called for coincidental minors, Hassett for roughing and Reynolds for high sticking. Just twenty seconds later, Abdulaev was called for roughing giving the Lightning one final chance to close the margin. The Lightning were unable to mount much pressure and the powerplay fizzled along with Upper Montgomery’s opportunity for their season of growth to continue next week. The game was salted away on an empty net goal scored by Abdulaev as he exited the penalty box on an assist from Barrow.
Game Notes:
- With the loss, Upper Montgomery ends its season with a 5-9-1 record, similar to last season but a huge leap forward in growth and competitiveness, especially against the top tier teams in the conference.
- The Lightning outshot Wootton 30-20.
- Again, shorthanded goals doomed the Lightning who gave up two shorthanded goals in the closing minutes of the contest. Upper Montgomery gave up eight shorthanded goals during the season and lost all seven games in which they conceded a shorthanded goal.
- The Lightning penalty kill, which has been outstanding all season, killed off six of the seven Wootton powerplays and finished the season 51-58, an excellent 87.9% kill rate.
- The Lightning powerplay faltered in all five powerplay chances against Wootton and finished the season 12-54, 22.2% success rate.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Nathan Barrow—Wootton Center—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—IIhom Abdulaev—–Wootton Forward—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—1 Goal, 1 Assist