Trap Game Avoided

      Making their first of two trips to Nashua for the week, Dick Dodds’s 2-0 Marauders made the long trip down 1-89/93 with Mr. T driving for a showdown with the 2-0 Nashua South Kings at Conway Arena.  Coming into the contest, both teams had played both Central and Bow with the Marauders owning an 18-2 goal advantage against those two teams vs a 14-4 differential for South.  Despite their 2-0 records, the Vegas oddsmakers (OK maybe a bit of a stretch) had the money on the Upper Valley boys to win this one going away as they maybe would use this game for a tune-up for BG coming up on Saturday.

      The problem with that logic is that the Kings came out firing right from the opening puck drop.  While Hanover had the better of the offensive play in the first period, it was Nashua who seemed hungrier – finishing off their checks, winning the battle in the neutral zone and frustrating the Upper Valley skaters into multiple turnovers.  And they were rewarded, because at 5:20 left in the first, the Marauders found themselves in the hole for the first time this season, when Riley Netter took an ill-advised neutral zone turnover to the net and beat Hanover goalie Ben Plottner to make it 1-0 Nashua. There hasn’t been this much excitement in Nashua since Chipotle came to town because no one expected the defending state champions to be down to the pesky Kings.  But as the Nashua partisans whooped it up, the tone changed in the Marauders and from the moment the puck dropped following the Nashua goal, Hanover completely dominated the contest.

     The key play really for the game was a penalty on Nashua goalie Nate Serrentino with about two minutes left in the period.  Already a man-down, Serrentino’s aggressive clear out of the Hanover screeners in front landed Nashua on the 5-3 and just like that it was Joey Goff to Sy Oberting to Charlie Plottner – bang, bang, bang, – tying the score at 1 at 13:35.  Still on the man-up, Hanover went up 2-1 at 14:55 with another bang, bang, bang - Hans Williams to Matty Gardner to Oberting.  The Marauders are a big, mean nasty team – put them on a power play and they become just filthy.

      The second period was a somewhat continuation of the beginning of the first, as the play was back and forth to start.  In fact, it was Toño Correa’s goal-saving, and all out hustle, hooking penalty as the Kings came in for a clean breakaway against the poaching Hanover defense at 1:33 that probably swayed the momentum back to the Marauders.  Just like that the Hanover second line took over.  First it was Patrick Daley in close on a feed from Cameron Woods to make it 3-1, then in rapid succession Woods from Oberting and Daley and then Gardner from Daley and Oberting.  Up 5-1, the Marauders finished the four goal period with a Gardner snipe on assists from Casey Graham and Brendan Brigham.

      The third stanza opened up with a play that defines how hockey should be played.  Joey “freight train” Goff broke through the neutral zone and raced down the near side on a 2-1, drew the defender to him, then slipped the pass laterally to crashing Plottner for a one-timer.  Finishing the scoring it was Curtis Rice whose wrister from the point on a rebound of an Oberting shot finished the onslaught at 13:57.  Final 8-1 Hanover.

      Plottner had 16 saves, including 3 absolute denials on King breakaways, while Serrentino had 45 for Nashua, and probably learned his lesson about creating 5-3 opportunities for defending state champion teams. 

      The 3-0 Marauders have now outscored their opponents 26-3.  So far, so good.  But Saturday Hanover gets its first taste of stout Division 1 hockey with an afternoon tangle against BG.  Remember it was a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals last year in Tyngsboro that made believers out of the NHIAA hockey community that Hanover was for real.  It was the game where they got the nickname the Hanover hicks and where the mid-mannered Harris LaRock got his only penalty of the year introducing his glove hand to one of the BG senior forward’s face masks.  This is a big one against a proud team with a strong hockey tradition.  Wear your maroon Hanover hats, invite the inlaws, and get the boys to bed early on Friday night – see you Saturday.