Ridgefield Boys Hockey Blanks Stamford

After not playing for more than two weeks, the Ridgefield boys hockey team shook off the rust Monday to blank Stamford 5-0 in a matinee at the Winter Garden Arena.

Eric Seel registered 13 saves and Danny McMullan recorded a goal and two assists for the Tigers, who saw their first action since Dec. 30. They had two games postponed last week.

"We are getting better," Ridgefield coach Sean Gallagher said. "Having that long of a break is not really normal, but things actually worked out. We got a change to work on some things, including our faceoff plays that paid off in this game." 

Aidan Scott opened the scoring in the first period on the power play by burying  a backdoor pass from McMullan.

"We really have been working on that backdoor pass on the power play and Danny found me," Scott said. 

Despite scoring only once in the first, Ridgefield (4-2) dominated the period, firing 13 shots on Stamford goaltender Joe Tenca.

"I thought we had some lapses where we really needed to pick it up," Scott added. 

After registering only one shot in the opening 15 minutes, the Black Knights (3-4) put up a better fight in the middle stanza with eight shots.

Their best chances came during an early power play when they peppered Seel with four point-blank shots. Ridgfield's Timmy Kelly was called for tripping 35 seconds into the period.

"They are a good team," Stamford coach Doug Robinson said. "They work and go fast. I thought their goaltender made some great save on us, especially on the power play early in the second period. We are a young team with 11 freshmen."

Following a clean faceoff win, Vinny Rella took a pass in the slot and tallied the Tigers' second goal with 5:10 left in the second period. The Tigers then scored twice in the final three minutes of the second to break open the contest.

With 2:42 left, Kelly redeemed himself, scoring on what looked like an innocent shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Tenca through the five-hole. Brendan Bossidy picked up the assist.

Then with 1:09 remaining in the second, co-captain Hunter Alicea put the game out of reach by tipping McMullan's shot from the point. 

"We have been working on setting up faceoff wins and Danny took a great shot finding my stick as I went to the net," Alicea said.

McMullan scored Ridgefield's final goal 3 1/2 minutes into the third period. He snuck in from the point and deflected a rebound of captain Matt Flanagan's shot, which came off Bossidy's faceoff win.

"I thought Eric Seel played great, especially early in the second period when they were pressing on the power play, and that kept us in the game," Gallagher added. "I really like this group. We have four lines that can play and I thought we got everyone moving today."

Ridgefield is back in action on Wednesday at Trinity Catholic (8:30 p.m.)