It’s tough to win a game when you allow your opponent to have two five-on-three power plays. It’s also quite easy to win a game when all four lines score.
Glenbrook North had both happen against New Trier Blue in the first Metro North playdown game for both teams. The Spartans came away 5-4 winners, holding off a late charge from the Trevians.
The top six teams from the Metro North regular season standings advanced to the playdowns, a round robin phase that advances the top three teams to the single elimination, eight-team Scholastic Cup. The Spartans finished second in the Metro North to Stevenson, falling just two points behind the Patriots. New Trier Blue finished sixth.
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GBN started the game strong, but, as would be the theme, penalties cost them. The Trevians scored on a five-on-three for the first goal of the game.
“Bad timing with the penalties,” Spartans’ coach Mark Brunner said. “Five-on-threes are desperation hockey. Even if you do kill them, you spend a lot of energy and you lose your continuity and your rhythm. It hurts more than the time that you’re killing them.”
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The lead didn’t last very long though. The Spartans converted a two-on-one break when Eric Anderson dove to get the puck towards the net. The goal came loose, but the puck was ruled to cross the line first and the score was tied at one after one.
Blue regained the lead on a shot from the point by Alex Pegler that managed not to take a deflection and evaded goalie Troy Carroll’s (24 saves) vision.
Only 63 seconds after Blue went ahead, Jack Day was able to tie things up. He scored a power play goal on a shot similar to Pegler’s.
Just 81 seconds after that, Ben Stein gave the Spartans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Stein slotted a shot near post to the right of goalie Joseph Talbot’s (21 saves).
“When I saw Paddy got rid of that puck I picked it up,” Stein said of the scoring play. “I saw the two-on-one and I saw the goalie was leaving the post open.”
GBN held the 3-2 lead into the second intermission and started the third period with its best hockey. Goals from Day and Seth Gideon made it 5-2 with 7:13 to go.
“We just reminded the players of some things we’ve been working on to try to create more space,” Brunner said. “Any team that can create space and control the puck is going to have a good chance to win that game. I thought we did a really good job in the third period until about the five-minute mark when the penalties started.”
Blue pulled one back with 5:20 to go and had another two-man advantage with less that two minutes remaining. The Spartans were able to kill off one penalty, but Andrew Koch scored on a rebound to give the Trevians hope in the final seconds. North held on, but it wasn’t always pretty.
The Spartans take pride in their defense, so 5-4 scores aren’t standard, but recently they’ve been getting offense from different sources and on Saturday all four lines found the net.
“That’s what we need because we want to give up two goals or less each game,” Day said. “When each lines scores a goal it puts less pressure on the scoring line to do something.”
“I think we’re improving a lot,” said Jonathon Gauger, who had an assist and was key in the Spartans’ penalty kill. “Our power play is doing a lot better. We’re getting a lot more production from our offense and all of our lines together.”
Gauger said the only difference offensively is that the team is finishing more of its quality chances.
Saturday’s game was the beginning of a potentially very busy postseason. With the High School Invitational Tournament (HIT) and the Blackhawk Cup still on the horizon as well as the Scholastic Cup, the Spartans have a few chances to collect some hardware.
They play at Stevenson Monday in the final HIT game before the semifinals.
