Livingston Lancer forward Tal Finberg maneuvered the puck in and out of the West Essex defense before slipping it by the Knights goalie.
As it turned out Finberg's second goal of the game that came with a minute left in the second period and was a short-handed goal would be the difference as the Lancers won an early key Essex County victory over rival West Essex, 6-2, at the South Mountain Arena.
The victory raised the Lancers record to 2-0 on the season after an opening-game 2-0 win over Sparta in an independent game on Dec. 1.
Finberg would have three goals for the game while Jonny Garfinkel added a pair of goals to win the New Jersey Ice Hockey League Northern battle. Last season the two teams split their two games with the Lancers winning the first game, 4-3. Livingston will face West Essex again on Dec. 17.
The Lancers were aggressive right from the first faceoff in the first period by out shooting the Knights, 16-7, and all those shots finally paid off in the third period.
IN SHORT: Livingston took advantage of an inexperienced West Essex team as they were aggressive to the net. The Lancers broke open the game in the third period with a pair of Garfinkel goals within 90 seconds.
The Lancers defense and aggressive style also helped out Livingston freshman goalie Brendan Flaherty who made 22 saves in the victory.
LANCERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: - TAL FINBERG - A hat trick for the sophomore that included a short-handed goal that turned out to be the game winner.
OTHER KEY PERFORMERS:
Jonny Garfinkel - The junior forward scored a pair of goals in the third period and assisted on one of Finberg's goals.
Brendan Flaherty - The freshman goalie excelled between the pipes with 22 saves in his first varsity game.
Seth Crockett - The junior forward scored his second goal of the season and it came with two minutes remaining in the first period for a 2-1 Lancers lead.
Adam Lanel - The junior assisted on the open goal by Finberg in the first period that set the tone for the contest.
THEY SAID IT:
"We approach every single game that we are going to win it. We respect everybody and are not afraid of anybody." — Dave Conklin, Livingston head coach.
"He's a great player and has very good skills. He needs to play within our system." — Dave Conklin speaking about Tal Finberg.
"I talked about the guys being lazy and not finishing their checks." — Dave Conklin discussing his talk between second and third periods.
"He's (Flaherty) very good technically...We're going to give both of them a shot." — Dave Conklin discussing his two goalies, Flaherty and sophomore Brian Lilien.
"Oh, the feeling is amazing. We are such rivals. Last year I remember we went insane." — Tal Finberg discussing beating West Essex, the 2010 state champions, this year which was more reserved and last season, 4-3, when he was a freshman.
"I wanted to do it especially being tied 2-2 and the team was a little nervous." — Tal Finberg discussing his short-handed goal making the score, 3-2.
"I'm more comfortable this season. Last year, I was pretty nervous." — Tal Finberg about the difference between playing varsity as a freshman and a sophomore.
UP NEXT: Livingston takes its undefeated record against Nutley on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at the South Mountain Arena.
