West Essex moved the puck side to side hoping to convert on a power play and tie the game at two. The puck rotated to the center of the ice near the blue line, and Hunter White, West Essex senior defenseman, fired a wrist shot on cage. The horn sounded, and the game was tied. Two minutes later, West Essex found the back of the net again, thanks to a beautiful centering pass right on the forward’s stick. The Knights forward would sting the top left corner with 8:13 remaining in the game, giving West Essex a lead it would not relinquish in an eventual 5-2 win over Westfield.
From the opening puck drop, Westfield came out slow and lackadaisical. Passes were not crisp, and players were not coming to the puck. Because of this, the Knights would jump out to an early 1-0 lead just 1:06 into the game. Westfield fans hoped the Blue Devils would wake up, and that is exactly what they did. Westfield fired shots left and right on the West Essex goaltender, however, in the first period, he stood on his head and held his ground. He refused to let anything get by him, and he even snuffed out doorstep opportunities for Daniel Duffy and Joey Tortorella.
After starting to come alive in the first period after the 1-0 deficit, the Blue Devils found the key that they were missing. That key piece, of course, was the knack to finish the puck. Tortorella got the puck in the middle of the ice, and Aidan Wilson was skating ferociously with him. It was a two-on-one opportunity for the Blue Devils. Tortorella dished the puck to Wilson, and seconds later, Wilson was jumping into the glass, celebrating his nifty finish. The score was now level with 6:11 remaining in the second period. Four minutes later, Andrew Lisnock was one-on-one with the goalie, and the goalie yet again made an incredible save. This time, however, Tortorella was there to pick his teammate up, as he skated hard to get the rebound off the goaltender’s blocker pad, and he found the back of the net. Westfield now led 2-1 after scoring two unanswered goals.
Tortorella commented on the second period and what changed going into the third period by saying, “We were rolling. I think we all have the energy and the mentality where we were down and we had to come back together. But in the third period, I think we stuck to a little bit too much individual play. We’re waiting for things to happen and this can’t happen again.”
Coach Joe Bertucci agreed with Tortorella, however, he was more disappointed in the Blue Devils’ inability to finish the game. “We didn’t finish them when we had the opportunity to. We played well in the second period, we had 16 shots, but we played well.” He then added, “[We only went] out 2-1 and kind of took our foot off the gas during the third period.”
As time went on in the third period, the more agony Bertucci experienced. This was because right when fans thought Westfield could get back in the game, they pulled goalie Andrew Raber in hopes of creating more offense. More offense was created, however, it was an inverse effect. The Knights floated the puck down from the midway line and watched it glide into the net, like a hawk at the nearby Turtle Back Zoo. The West Essex fans roared like the lions next door at the zoo, causing many Westfield fans to beat the traffic and begin the 30-minute drive home. Before the game went final, the Knights slotted home another empty-net goal, which was ultimately the final nail in the already built coffin.
Looking forward, Coach Bertucci made it clear that “you have to learn from it. We had a 2-1 lead going into the third period; we can’t be content with that. We got to finish things off when the opportunity is there and that is where the learning comes in.”
The Blue Devils will be back on Monday, as they face off against Livingston, a team who they previously walloped 8-0. They will then face off against Verona on Wednesday, who has always been a difficult team, as the Blue Devils are 3-2 against them in their last five meetings. Westfield will have to wait until January 25 to get revenge on the Knights, but for now, the Knights got the last laugh.
