In a Saturday matinee affair, the Goffstown Grizzlies ice hockey team tied a young Oyster River Bobcats team 2-2 played at the Sullivan Arena on the beautiful St. Anselm's campus in Goffstown.
From the opening face-off, the teams came out with aggression and a desire for some physical play. Goffstown clearly had the size advantage and it appeared there was always a Bobcat on the ice after hits from Mason Mable, Connor Easton and the rest of the team.
Unfortunately for the local boys, the physical play proved costly in the first period. Dylan Hyers holding penalty at 7:58 in the first combined with a solid puck possession power play from Oyster River created the first goal of the contest by Michael Donovan with assists from Connor McDonough and Devin Kaya. Oyster River led 1-0 after the first period.
Despite numerous scoring chances by both teams, great goal-tending by Goffstown's net-minder Colin Holt (20 saves), the score remained the same until 2:02 left in the second period when Mable made a centering pass to a wide open Tyler Riendeau. Riendeau didn't waste the opportunity as he found the back of the net with a beautiful shot. In the waning seconds of the 2nd quarter, sophomore Nick Nault fired a scoring shot from just inside the blue line which gave Goffstown a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Mable assisted Nault on the goal.
In the third period both teams traded shots, saves, hits and penalties. With 2:06 remaining and a face-off in the Goffstown zone, Oyster River's coach used his time-out to devise a strategy to tie the game. It almost worked to perfection. The Bobcats won the draw and played it back to a wide open player in the slot who one-timed it past Holt but it clanged off the post. The Bobcats didn't quit. With 1:36 remaining in the third, Conor Deptula got one past Holt to tie the game with assists from Zak Lanove and Casey Aubin.
After a physical 45 minutes, 8 minutes of sudden death overtime was up. Both teams had their chances but the best was from Ian Gately. Gately was clearly the fastest skater on the ice all afternoon and had numerous chances. A minute and a half into the extra period Gately received the puck as he entered the offensive zone. With great moves he got by a couple of defenders and found his way into the slot. He fired a shot that the Bobcat goalie never saw. As it flew by the goalies head, the excitement was building but the puck ricocheted off the cross bar with a load clang that could be heard at the opposite end of the arena. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. Goffstown is now 3-0-1 on the young season.
Goffstown's next game is January 7th at 4pm vs Merrimack at the West Side Arena.
