The Upper Montgomery Lightning ice hockey program entered Friday night’s contest against the Blair Blazers with exactly one Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff victory. With a convincing, albeit nonchalant win over Blair, the Lightning doubled their playoff win total. Having shutout the Blazers 5-0 within the past two weeks, and then playing well against both Rockville/Magruder and in a very close loss to top private high school foe Bullis, the Lightning went through the motions in large segments of Friday’s opening round playoff game. The Blazers on the other hand competed very hard and played as well as they possibly could. Still it was not nearly enough as Upper Montgomery pulled away over the second half of the game to secure a 5-1 triumph.
Upper Montgomery opened the game outshooting Blair thirteen to six in the opening period of play. While the Lightning pushed the pace, they could not challenge the interior of the Blair defense. The Lightning’s compete level was lacking, and too many of the Lightning shots on goal were low quality from the outside. Blazers goalie Lily Bendavid was able to see pucks clearly and steer shots and rebounds into the corners and behind the net. The vibe of the game was that Upper Montgomery’s student athletes felt they would win because they possessed superior talent compared with the Blazers. The game remained scoreless with five minutes left in the first period when Blair defender Rafael Shore was called for tripping.
The Lightning powerplay, seeking to capitalize for the second consecutive game after a program record for futility to begin the season, took to the ice. Upper Montgomery applied constant pressure for an extended period of time. The scoring play began when Lightning forward Nathan Cassel kept the puck in the offensive zone at the left point using his skates. Cassel shoveled the puck down the left wing boards to Lightning defender Owen Robbins in the left corner. Recently, Robbins has been deployed in front of the net on the powerplay. Robbins took the puck behind the net where he was pinched off by a Blazers defender. He returned the puck to the left corner to Lightning forward Bradley Cupples. Cupples passed the puck back to Cassel at the left point. Cassel danced with the puck along the blue line. As pressure came out to meet him, he fed the crease area. The puck caromed over to Upper Montgomery’s leading scorer, senior center Chris Hassett at the center point. Hassett’s shot toward the goal was defected to the right corner where it was retrieved by Robbins. Robbins sent the puck up the boards though traffic to Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer near the right point. Berkhammer cut to the slot where he fired a wrist shot from the inner edge of the left faceoff circle. His shot went past Bendavid’s blocker and settled into the net. For Berkhammer, well into his sophomore season, it was his first career high school goal and gave Upper Montgomery a very important lead.
Starting the second period with the 1-0 lead, Upper Montgomery came out lacksidasical. Blair gained confidence with their play in the opening period and that translated into inspired play. This combination led to Blair taking play to the Lightning throughout the second period. But the Lightning’s superior skill capitalized on counter attacks. Blair outshot Upper Montgomery fifteen to eight in the middle frame.
Three minutes into the second period Lightning forward Josh Nadler took a cross checking penalty clearing out a Blair skater. No damage was done as the Lightning penalty killers and senior goalie Landon Bernard kept the Blazers searching for their opening goal of the game. The Blair pressure continued. Halfway through the period, Blair applied extensive pressure in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Berkhammer was eventually able to secure the puck behind his net. He passed the puck up the left wing boards to the point where a Blazers defender kept the puck in at the point. Upper Montgomery senior forward Adam Levine, elevated to play on the top line alongside Cassel and Hassett with regular linemate Philip Shkeda suffering from an illness and unavailable to play in the game, fought for the puck. Levine won the puck battle with the Blair defender along the left wing boards. Levine pushed the puck over the defensive blue line to Cassel in the neutral zone. Cassel skated up ice on a two on one rush with Hassett. As they approached the slot in the Upper Montgomery offensive zone, Cassel slid the puck over to Hassett. In alone, Hassett deked to his forehand and put the puck past Bendavid’s glove for a 2-0 Lightning lead. For Hassett, it was his 50th career varsity goal and further cemented his status in the Maryland Student Hockey League all-time scoring record books.
One minute later the gap was closed. Blair took advantage off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The Lightning won the draw. A poor clearing attempt by the Upper Montgomery defense was kept in at the left point by Blair defender J. J. St. Aubin. St. Aubin fired the puck behind the Lightning goal to the Blazers top scoring forward Jackson Martindill. Martindill curled out from behind the net and shot at Bernard. His shot was blocked and he was forced to pass the puck back to defender Robert Woodward at the right point. Woodward’s shot was deflected by the onrushing Lightning forward. The shot changed direction and hit Blair forward Wyatt Bakalis in the backside of his hockey pants. The puck laid in the slot behind Bakalis where Blair forward Zander Frey lifted a backhand shot past Bernard’s glove into the top right corner of the net. Just like that, Blair was one shot away from tying up the game.
A minute after Frey’s goal brought Blair close, the Lightning’s top line again provided a two goal cushion. Hassett won a draw from the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone back to Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer’s wrist shot was deflected by Hassett on the way to the net. The deflected shot was blocked by the skaters of a Blazers defender. Hassett chased down the loose puck on the left side in front of the net. He centered the puck to Cassel in the slot. Cassel curled and reversed his direction back into the slot where uncorked a backhander that went low glove side past a screened Bendavid to put Upper Montgomery up 3-1.
With two minutes to go in the middle period, Lightning forward Henry Honacki was whistled for a slashing minor penalty. As with Blair’s first powerplay of the game, the skill of the Lightning’s penalty killers prevented Blair from getting good looks at Bernard. After two periods of play, Upper Montgomery led 3-1 and looked for a strong third period to close out their playoff opener.
The third period was the Lightning’s best period of the game. A minute into the period, Upper Montgomery would increase their lead to 4-1. A Blair rush up ice was cut off by Hassett’s stick. The puck was tapped to the right wing boards. Cassel raced down the right wing and pushed a pass into the middle to Levine in the slot. Levine’s shot looking to go five hole was saved by Bendavid. Levine chased down his rebound in the corner where he battled with two Blair defenders. The puck broke loose off of Levine along the side wall to Hassett. Hassett curled to the front of the goal and his wrist shot went seven hole in between Bendavid’s right leg pad and her blocker. The three goal cushion brought with it a measure of exhale as the Lightning looked to be closing in on a playoff victory.
On the very next shift, Upper Montgomery extended their lead to 5-1. Blair advanced the puck to the neutral zone. Nadler took control of the puck and skated to the right side of the ice. He entered the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot well wide of the net. Cupples controlled the puck along the left wing boards and sent the puck back to Lightning defender Andrew Botti at the left point. Botti skated toward the mid point and unleashed a slap shot toward the goal. His shot was blocked but it fell forward to the front of the net. Lightning senior forward, Brandon Bernard swung his stick and connected with a backhand whack at the puck. The puck volleyed over Bendavid’s glove for the Lightning’s fifth goal of the night.
The final twelve minutes were spent with Upper Montgomery playing with several forwards back in a defensive posture to protect their four goal cushion. Blair had one final powerplay opportunity when Nadler was called for roughing with six minutes left in the game. The Lightning penalty killers and Bernard held firm to keep the score 5-1. After four more minutes of regulation time ticked away Upper Montgomery had secured a place in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs.
One more win and the Lightning program will secure its first ever Maryland Student Hockey League state playoff berth. However, it will be incredibly difficult for Upper Montgomery to beat a very good Whitman team for a second consecutive time. Next Friday night will be Upper Montgomery’s second game ever where the state playoffs are on the line. The Lightning played heroically last year in the quarterfinal round losing to eight time consecutive state champion Churchill by one goal in a five round shootout after playing to a one all tie through regulation and overtime. With an upperclass heavy roster, the Upper Montgomery program has been building for four years for next week’s pivotal game.
Game Notes:
- Upper Montgomery senior co-captain Chris Hassett continued his climb up the all time Maryland Student Hockey League career scoring list notching his 50th career goal.
- Lightning goalie Landon Bernard’s stalwart playoff play continued. For his third straight playoff game, Bernard gave up only one goal. He lowered is goals against average in the playoffs to 0.98 and he increased his save percentage to .966. Both are current program records.
- Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer’s powerplay goal in the first period was his first career varsity goal.
- Upper Montgomery forward Adam Levine contributed two assists in his first career playoff game subbing in on the top line for regular first line forward Philip Shkeda. Shkeda missed the game with an illness.
- Shots on goal for the game were even with Upper Montgomery firing 33 shots on goal and Blair countering with 30.
- Upper Montgomery’s epic futility on the powerplay seems a distant memory. The Lightning converted on the powerplay for the second consecutive game and their second consecutive powerplay opportunity.
- Upper Montgomery returns to action next Friday night against the Whitman Vikings in a rubber match game. The teams split the regular season series with Whitman defeating the Lightning 7-2 on opening night. In mid-December, the Lightning won the rematch 3-2. The winner of next week’s Montgomery Hockey Conference quarterfinal game earns a spot in the coveted Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 1 Goal Against, 29 Saves, .967 Save Percentage
Third Star—Brady Berkhammer—Upper Montgomery Defense–PPG Goal, Assist