Game Results
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SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake boys hockey team got its season off to a great start by posting a 4-0 record, which included a championship in its own Casey McHugh Tournament a week ago. The Red Storm, however, didn’t fare as well when they played their first league game of the winter on Tuesday. Hosting Plattsburgh in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference opener for both teams, Saranac Lake dropped a 2-1 decision in a defensive battle at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. Nate Boule netted both Plattsburgh goals, including the game-winner midway through the third period as the Hornets improved to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0 in what looks to be a competitive CVAC race this season. Junior Brett Dawson buried Saranac Lake’s lone goal of the game late in the second period when the Red Storm were skating with a 5-on-3 advantage. Despite holding a 32-17 edge in shots on goal, Saranac Lake was unable to come through with a victory in an important matchup after taking down four non-league opponents to kick off its 2016-17 campaign. The Red Storm turned in a solid defensive effort in front of goaltender Bruno Freeman, but had their share of struggles in the other end of the rink, including a 1-for-8 performance on power-play opportunities. “In our last four games, we’ve had a really good jump start with our forecheck,” Saranac Lake head coach Will Ellsworth said. “In this game, we weren’t quite clicking on all cylinders, and all our lines were like that. I think we picked it up in the second period, and we gave it all we had in the third, but we weren’t connecting cleanly on passes on breakouts. Plattsburgh put a lot of pressure on us, and our ‘D’ didn’t have much time to make that all important first breakout pass.” The teams played scoreless hockey in the opening period, and Boule then put Plattsburgh in front 1-0 when he poked a puck past Freeman 10:44 into the second stanza with Logan Julian assisting on the play. After coming up empty on its first of two 5-on-3 opportunities at the end of the first, the Red Storm quickly tied the score on their second two-man advantage when Dawson buried a shot with 2:06 remaining in the stanza. The play started when JB Chapin won a faceoff in the left circle in the Hornets end of the rink and slid the puck to Austen Reyell, who was positioned along the left boards. Reyell then sent a pass to Dawson, who was standing all alone on the right side of the Plattsburgh net and fired the puck into the short side of the net past Hornets goalie Dean Dashnaw. Boule then gave Plattsburgh the lead for good, scoring his second goal of the game from in close with 7:03 left in the third with Alex Kneifel and Paul Fine-Lease picking up the assist. Boule’s tally came just seconds after Saranac Lake killed off a shorthanded situation. Saranac Lake outshot Plattsburgh in all three periods, including owning a 15-5 edge in the second. “We buzzed just enough,” Plattsburgh head coach Jamie Reidy said. “Our defense did a pretty good job. What Saranac Lake did well was really jamming up center ice in their end. They blocked a lot of shots tonight, which was big for them. We had to battle hard. I’m happy with the two points for sure. This was a big win for us.” Dashnaw finished with 32 saves to earn the win. Freeman, a sophomore, recorded 15 saves in a losing effort. “When it came down to it, we had 32 shots to their 17, but we missed a lot of nets tonight,” Ellsworth said. “I think Plattsburgh caught some breaks tonight. We’re looking forward to seeing them again later on in the season.” Saranac Lake dropped to 4-1 and will next play at home on Thursday, Dec. 22 in a CVAC matchup against the Saranac Chiefs. The Chiefs next game will also be on the same day when they host Northeastern Clinton at the Ameri-Can North Sports Center. — Plattsburgh 2, Saranac Lake 1 Hornets 0 1 1 — 2 Red Storm 0 1 0 — 1 Scoring Second Period 1. PHS, Boule (Julian), 10:44; 2. SL, Dawson (Reyell, Chapin), 12:54; pp. Third Period 3. PHS, Boule (Kneifel, Fine-Lease), 7:57. Shots on goal: SL 32, PHS 17. Saves: PHS, Dashnaw 31; SL, Freeman 15.
Date: December 13, 2016
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: SARANAC LAKE CIVIC CENTER
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