The Upper Montgomery Lightning used a dominating defensive effort coupled with a second period offensive explosion to down the Sherwood Warriors on Friday night at Cabin John Ice Rink. Continuing to follow the structured defensive system employed by the coaching staff, Upper Montgomery thrived in their defensive zone. Outside of one end to end rush by gifted Sherwood defender Samuel Greenberg, the Lightning excelled in shutting down the high octane Sherwood attack. The defensive effort paired with excellent goaltending by Landon Bernard, spurred Upper Montgomery to a 6-1 victory over the Warriors.
The first period was a blend of offensive rushes by both teams that produced limited quality offensive chances. Sherwood had no difficulties exiting their defensive zone only to be shut down upon entry into the Lightning defensive zone. Although firing nine shots on net, many of the Warriors’ chances were from bad angles or from distance with no traffic in front. Bernard had little difficulty steering the puck into the corner or stopping play with routine glove saves.
Five minutes into the contest, Upper Montgomery was awarded the games first powerplay when Sherwood defender Riley Shearer was called for tripping. With almost a full two minutes of zone time, Upper Montgomery was unable to break down the Warriors defense. Shots either missed the net or were blocked when opportunities did present. Just prior to the end of the Lightning powerplay, Upper Montgomery senior captain, Geroge Benedick was called for hooking. Similar to the initial Lightning powerplay, Sherwood controlled the puck in the offensive end but was unable to mount any real threat of their own. Towards the end of the first period, gifted Upper Montgomery forward Ryan Jacobson was called for boarding. While the Lightning would kill off the two minute boarding penalty, the squad would be without Jacobson’s presence for twelve minutes of action after he also had to serve the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty.
Shortly after Jacobson’s minor boarding penalty expired at the end of the second period, the offensive fireworks began. First, Greenberg possessed the puck behind his net. He singlehandedly skated up ice through the Lightning backchecking forwards and then through the defense. From the top of the right circle, and through a screen, he let loose with a rising wrist shot that beat Bernard to put Sherwood on top. Sherwood’s goal seemed to energize the Lightning.
On the very next shift, only fifteen seconds later, Upper Montgomery would tie the game. Off the faceoff at center ice the puck was dropped into the Lightning defensive zone. A smart looking breakout pass to Lightning leading scorer, Chris Hassett, in the neutral zone started the scoring play. Hassett immediately sent the puck wide on the left wing to Upper Montgomery’s second leading scorer, Nathan Cassel. Cassel took the puck wide, down the left wing boards, before centering the puck to his opposite winger Philip Shkeda. Shkeda, the team’s leading 9th grade scorer, one timed the puck with his left handed forehand. His slapshot went low along the ice and past Warriors netminder Samuel Hutt before he had a chance to square up to the shot. The quick response by Upper Montgomery seemed to relax the team.
Upper Montgomery continued pressuring the Warriors. It took until there was seven minutes remaining in the second period before Upper Montgomery would grab the lead. Benedick fired a shot toward the goal. His shot was blocked in front where Lightning center Bradley Cupples dug the puck free and fired from the low slot. Cupples shot beat Hutt for his second goal of the season, beginning an explosion of offense.
Two minutes later, Hassett would score to provide some additional breathing room. Lightning defender Andrew Botti passed the puck up ice to Cassel. Cassel drew the Sherwood defenders to him before layering over a pass to Hassett alone in front. Hassett deked Hutt and shot past him for his fifth goal of the season. A minute later the score would jump to 4-1. Lightning defender Owen Robbins kept the puck in at the right point. He passed the puck left along the blue line to his defensive partner, Botti. Botti hesitated, allowing traffic to get to the front of the net before cranking a snap shot on goal. With limited vision, Hutt did not pick up the shot which beat him glove side.
The four goal period could have been more when the Lightning went on the powerplay with two and a half minutes remaining in the period after Sherwood was assessed a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice. Continuing to apply heavy pressure, the Lightning would be unable to pot another goal. They would ultimately lose the powerplay opportunity halfway through when Hunter Cameron was called for slashing. The dominating period ended with Upper Montgomery firing fifteen shots on net while Sherwood only sent six on Bernard.
Up by three goals entering the third period, the Lightning focused on pressure defense and shutting down Sherwood. The trickle over 45 seconds on Cameron’s slashing penalty were killed off with little difficulty. With an urgent need to generate offense, Sherwood could not penetrate the Lightning’s suffocating defense. The Warriors offensive rushes were throttled by the Lightning who were content to chip pucks out of the defensive zone and dump pucks into the Sherwood end. Halfway through the third period, Upper Montgomery would score to realistically finish off the game. Lightning defender Ethan Hockey kept a Sherwood clearing attempt in at the blue line. His shot was blocked in the slot. The puck went directly to Lightning winger Josh Nadler. Nadler fired from the slot past Hutt to score his first goal of the season.
A minute and a half later Upper Montgomery would grow the lead to 6-1. Benedick kept another bad Sherwood clearing attempt in at the point. His slapshot was deflected in front by Hassett. The puck easily beat Sherwood backup goalie Alexander Crotzer who had just entered the game. For the last seven minutes of the game the Lightning were on cruise control as Sherwood was not able to penetrate the stifling Lightning defense. The last 3:45 of the game were interesting though as the Lightning finished the game shorthanded. First, Botti was called for cross checking. Then, just before his penalty expired, Benedick was called for interference. Those minutes, while the Lightning were shorthanded, were chaotic. Sherwood applied plenty of pressure and broke down the Lightning penalty kill. However, every shot was either wide, high, or deflected. Several goal mouth scrambles occurred, with each time the puck squirting wide of the net or being cleared into the corners and out of harm’s way.
Two consecutive wins have clawed the Lightning’s record back to one game under the .500 mark. Up next is a short-turnaround to play Wootton on Tuesday afternoon. This is a game that has been circled on the calendar for the last several weeks. Upper Montgomery has never before beaten Wootton. It is a match up of seemingly comparable evenly matched teams in terms of talent. The Lightning have another chance to remove a long losing streak from the record books. A victory over Wootton would definitely confirm Upper Montgomery’s place in the top half of the Montgomery Hockey Conference.
Game Notes:
- Shots on goal for the game were Upper Montgomery with 27 and Sherwood with 22.
- Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill came through for the second consecutive game and killed off all five Warriors powerplay opportunities. The team’s penalty kill on the season is now 20 for 30, raising the penalty kill success rate to 66.7%.
- Brandon Bernard’s four game goal streak ended.
- George Benedick continued to pile up the points with two more assists. He now has ten points on the season, more points than over his first three seasons combined.
- Landon Bernard finished his second straight game only allowing one goal.
- Upper Montgomery will look to continue its resurgence on Tuesday afternoon against the Wootton Patriots. Upper Montgomery has never beaten Wootton in its fifteen year history. Game time is 4:00 pm at the Laurel Ice Gardens.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Assists
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 21 Saves, 1 Goal Against, .955 Save Percentage
Third Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center–-2 Goals, 1 Assist