Madison Ice Hockey Wins 4th Straight

MORRISTOWN – After a lethargic first period, the Madison High School ice hockey team needed a pick-me-up. Luckily, Parsippany Hills was there to offer an elixir: two penalties within 40 seconds of each other.

The Dodgers scored back-to-back power-play goals to break a 1-1 tie, and that would be more than enough, as Madison cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Vikings Wednesday afternoon at Mennen Arena.

Madison (6-2-1, 6-1-1 Haas) rolled thanks in part to a balanced effort–three players (Erik Andersson, Brett Anton and Spencer Waresk) each scored a pair of goals. Andersson also added a pair of assists.

But the final score was only a reflection of Madison's third-period dominance–the Dodgers tidied up the final score by outscoring Par Hills, 5-1, in the final 15 minutes. The outmanned Vikings (2-8-0, 1-7-0 Charette) kept the score respectable while Madison scuffled early on.

"They're not a bad team," Hansen said. "They had some very good goaltending. But when a team's not in your division, you think you're just going to walk over them. And it didn't happen for us for most of tonight."

Bobby Yutcko's shorthanded goal, a shot taken from the blue line that beat Par Hills goalie Deanna Meunier (23 saves), was the only major happening of an uneventful first period. The Dodgers took eight of the game's first nine shots, and Par Hills offered few credible threats on Madison goalie Grant Perry (19 saves) until a power play late in the period.

But despite dominating the game, Madison's lead was erased 35 seconds into the second period, when Ryan Brown took a Brett Perry mishit for a breakaway, which he converted to tie the score at 1-1.

Hansen said that it was tough for his team to be motivated to play the lower-division Vikings, especially after an important victory over Haas Division-leading Roxbury on Monday. But once Par Hills committed a pair of penalties at the 10:53 and 10:12 marks of the second period, giving Madison a 5-on-3 advantage, the game finally turned in the Dodgers' favor.

"We knew that we had a lot of selfish play in the first period," Hansen said. "But they wanted to win, and they settled down. And getting on the powerplay really helped us out."

Andersson took advantage first. Just 25 seconds into the two-man advantage, he found himself unguarded at the right faceoff circle. With Par Hills' three defenders occupied with Dodgers crashing the net, Andersson calmly poked the puck above Meunier's left shoulder.

With the Dodgers' advantage reduced to 5-on-4, it took just 40 more seconds for Charlie Olendorp to get involved with the scoring. Standing on the edge of the attacking zone, the Madison defenseman launched a low slapshot past the Par Hills goalie, who appeared to be screened. "

We were very patient on the power play tonight," Hansen said. "We didn't rush, we waited for the shots to come, and when they did, we took them."

With the lead firmly in hand–Madison led 4-1 after the second period after a late goal from Waresk–Hansen challenged his team to score a goal every five minutes in the third period. Instead, the Dodgers scored three goals in the first five minutes.

Andersson cleaned up a rebound 35 seconds in the period. Then, Brett Perry scored Madison's third of four power-play goals (on six chances) at the 12:55 mark. Finally, Anton scored off an assist from Perry and Waresk at the 11:13 mark, at which point both teams brought in their backup goalies.

The freshman, Andersson, who notched hat tricks in both of Madison's last two games, had several chances to complete the three-peat, including a point-blank shot on Par Hills goalie Harry Weinman in the final minute, but he was denied.

"He knew he waited too long to shoot," Hansen said. "If he hadn't hesitated, I think he might've had the goalie beat."

UP NEXT

The Dodgers step outside of MCSSIHL play Thursday afternoon when they travel to the Woodbridge Community Center to take on Westfield (6-2-2) at 4 p.m. The Blue Devils play in the Union County Ice Hockey League, and are unbeaten in their last five games. Westfield, like Madison, is coming off a blowout victory Wednesday. The Blue Devils defeated Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 8-1.

SCORING SUMMARY

Parsippany Hills   0  1  1  -  2

Madison                   1  3  5  -  9

FIRST PERIOD

M- Bobby Yutcko (shorthanded, from Erik Andersson), 5:00

SECOND PERIOD

P- Ryan Brown (unassisted), 0:35

M- Andersson (5-on-3 power play, from Charlie Olendorp), 5:14

M- Olendorp (power play, from Yutcko), 5:55

M- Spencer Waresk (from Brett Anton), 12:15

THIRD PERIOD

M- Andersson (from Olendorp and Brett Perry), 0:35

M- Perry (power play, unassisted), 2:05

M- Anton (from Perry and Waresk), 3:47

M- Anton (power play, from Perry and Andersson), 8:27

P- Harry Gitlitz (from Brown), 9:32

M- Waresk (shorthanded, from Andersson), 14:15

SHOTS ON GOAL

Parsippany Hills   6   12   9   -  27

Madison                 10  14  16  -  40