Madison Ice Hockey Survives Penalty Woes, Park Regional

MORRISTOWN – Whenever it was 5-on-5, the Madison High School ice hockey team had few problems controlling Park Regional Thursday night at Mennen Arena. Their biggest problem, it turned out, was keeping the game at 5-on-5.

Brett Anton scored two goals and Spencer Waresk added a goal and two assists as the Dodgers won their seventh straight Haas Division game, 5-3, over Park. Madison overcame 12 penalties and withstood 10 Park Regional power plays to pick up the win.

All three Park Regional goals, and nearly two-thirds of their shots, came on the power play, frustrating Madison coach Dave Hansen.

"I told them, 'how many more power plays do we want them to have?'," he said.

But the Dodgers had no such issues when they played at even strength. They dominated possession in the first period, outshooting Park 10-1, with Park's only shot coming late in the period on a power play. Their first even-strength shot came with 1:22 left in the second period.

And Madison didn't wait long to grab early momentum, as Anton scored 51 seconds into the game.

Madison made a long clearance out of their own defensive zone, and center Brett Perry took the puck across the blue line and towards Park goalie Michael Brattoli (20 saves). Perry wristed a soft, looping shot over Brattoli, but it bounced off the crossbar. Luckily for Madison, the puck bounced to Anton, who was in a perfect position to score the rebound.

Perry made it 2-0 on a power play with 3:00 remaining in the period, and Madison seemed to have the game well under control. Then the penalties came.

The Dodgers were called for two penalties in the final 12 seconds of the first period, giving Park a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage to open the second period.

"They provoked us a little," Anton said. "And we got a little bit out of control."

Park Regional capitalized, launching slapshot after slapshot at goalie Grant Perry, until finally Michael Meggiolano scored 1:17 into the two-man advantage.

"There's only so much you can do on the ice," said Madison assistant coach Joe Swanson. "A referee's going to make his calls, you can't go back and have the ref change his mind. You've got to play."

Leading 2-1, Park threatened to even the score when they received another minute-long 5-on-3 advantage with 6:27 remaining in the second period. This time, Perry (20 saves), remained up for the task, making a number of pretty glove saves and stopping Michael Braviak's shot on a breakaway.

And though the Dodgers spent more than one-third of the second period down at least one man, their 2-1 lead held up.

"It was tough on Grant, to be down there that much," Anton said. "But he did a really good job. He really supported us and made some good saves."

Waresk's goal with 1:57 left gave Perry a little breathing room. But Meggiolano cut Park's deficit to 3-2 three and a half minutes into the final period, beating Perry with a backhanded rebound on yet another power play - the eighth consecutive penalty called on Madison.

"We certainly committed a lot of actual penalties," Hansen said. "But I'd say, at least half of them, they weren't good calls."

Hansen had his issues with the officials all game, showing his frustration both during the game and in between periods - the coach held a lengthy discussion with one official after the first period.

But penalties would turn out to hurt Park Regional as well. A Park player was sent to the penalty box with 11:11 left in the game, and another followed 43 seconds later to set up Madison's only 5-on-3 advantage of the night. Brett Perry made it count with a slapshot from the point, giving the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.

"We started running around out of position in the third period," Hansen said. "But we capitalized when we had to."

Less than two minutes later, Anton put the game out of reach by corralling a rebound in front of a sprawled-out Brattoli and putting it in the unguarded net.

"Brett sometimes gets overshadowed with some of the other all-stars on our team," Swanson said. "He doesn't bring some of the elaborate dekes and fancy moves like some other kids, but he ends up producing just as much as them."

NEXT UP

The Dodgers continue their Haas Division schedule Saturday night at 8:15 at Mennen Arena when they play Montville. The Mustangs (6-6-3, 5-2-3) are the only Haas Division team that Madison has not beaten this season. The two teams tied, 3-3, when they played at Mennen Dec. 9.

Madison currently sits in third place in the Haas with 16 points, one behind both West Morris and Roxbury. Those two teams also play Saturday, so a Madison win over Montville would move the Dodgers either into a three-way tie for first place or sole possession of second place.

SCORING SUMMARY
Madison (9-2-1, 7-1-1)      2  1  2  -  5
Park Reg. (5-8-2, 4-5-1)   0  1  2  -  3

FIRST PERIOD
MAD- Brett Anton (from Brett Perry), 0:51
MAD- Perry (power play, from Charlie Olendorp and Spencer Waresk), 11:55

SECOND PERIOD
PARK- Michael Meggiolano (5-on-3 power play, from Michael Braviak and Kyle Chambers), 1:17
MAD- Waresk (from Will Remig), 13:03

THIRD PERIOD
PARK- Meggiolano (power play, from Tyler Lee and Dan Madonna), 3:27
MAD- Perry (5-on-3 power play, from Erik Andersson and Lou Cecala), 5:01
MAD- Anton (from Andersson and Waresk), 6:55
PARK- Chambers (power play, from Meggiolano and A.J. Dean), 10:47

SHOTS ON GOAL
Madison    10   8    7  -  25
Park Reg.   1  11  10  -  22