RallyNorth.net

Astros capture interstate matchup

Thursday, February, 21 By Ryan Lambert
Staff writer

HOOKSETT, N.H. | Three Pinkerton players made a big impact in a game in which the Astros did all the little things right.

Pinkerton's top line of Doug Schultz, Jeremy Lavoie and Eddie Galvin combined for three goals and six assists as the red-hot Astros downed Wakefield, 4-3, in an interstate matchup.

The score, though, is not indicative of just how dominant Pinkerton was. The Astros held a big advantage on the shot chart (31-18), at the faceoff dot (winning 39 of 55 draws, nearly 71 percent), and on the penalty kill (limiting Wakefield to two shots over four power plays). It was only a pair of tough goals in the second period that kept the Warriors in the game.

"In the second, we came out a little sloppy," said Pinkerton coach Casey Kesselring, whose team improved to 8-8-1 but is 3-1-1 in its last five. "We've kind of had a tendency to do that this year, but we reigned it in. I thought in the third period, we did a real nice job. We got that fourth goal and just kind of hemmed them in their own end and kept sending it back in."

After first-period goals from Galvin and Mitch Granoff, Mike Fitzpatrick struck twice in 1:51 for Wakefield to level the game midway through the second. Neither team could gain much momentum for the rest of the period until Schultz scored at 13:45, banging home the rebound on Granoff's booming point shot.

"We controlled almost the whole game," said Galvin, who scored twice. "We made a few mistakes here and there in our zone and they capitalized on them."

Galvin extended the lead again midway through the third period, and Fitzpatrick completed his hat trick on the power play to make it 4-3 with 12:07 left. The Warriors began to look menacing once they pulled the goalie in favor of the extra skater, but freshman Kevin Kent, who had some tough early moments, saved his best stop for last, absolutely robbing Wakefield's Brett Riley on a point-blank shot high to the glove side.

"He comes up with a big save at the end, so he bounced back," said Kesselring. "He's got to get mentally tougher, but he's young."

The win was the Astros' third in two weeks, and the late-season surge is encouraging.

"We're certainly playing our best hockey now," he said. "That's what we want."