Joey Tortorella, senior captain, dangled the puck down the ice with passion. There was one thing on his mind, and that was scoring the potential game-winning goal. With around three minutes left in the game, after being deadlocked for the entire third period, Tortorella saw an open lane and took a shot. The lamp was lit. Tortorella scored, giving the Blue Devils a 4-3 lead they would never look back from.
“Joey always seems to play well against this team. I know he’s got a lot of buddies on the other side of it, but he always finds a way to put the puck in the back of the net against them,” said coach Joe Bertucci on Tortorella’s goal.
The Blue Devils tacked on another goal via Aidan Wilson, who scored on an empty net. This goal would be the nail in the coffin for Governor Livingston, as the Blue Devils won, 5-3, in the rivalry game.
All throughout the third period, fans could feel the tension in the air. Both teams had ample opportunities, with each team’s goalie making mind-boggling saves. However, when needed the most, Andrew Raber, Westfield’s junior goalie, outdueled his Governor Livingston counterpart by making a heroic save while GL was on the power play.
This was a common theme throughout the entirety of the game. Governor Livingston was constantly on the power play, forcing the Blue Devils to play a man down.
In the first period, Governor Livingston had control of the puck in the Westfield defensive zone on the power play. Westfield would kill the power play, but seconds after the power play ended, as the Blue Devils were becoming even, Governor Livingston scored, jumping out to a 1-0 lead.
From this point on, the game started to get extremely chippy. Late hits became a common courtesy, players being down on all fours on the ice was normal, and fans were loving every second of it.
“It’s a rivalry game,” explained Coach Bertucci. “We knew it would be physical back and forth. We got history between us, but it was fun hockey.”
Just four seconds before the first period ended, Michael Wilson showed fans why he is one of the brightest stars on the team, as he deked through numerous Governor Livingston players and stuffed the puck in the net. This display of excellence leveled the score after one period.
The second period picked up right where the first period left off, with more hits, and a lot more goals. Just five minutes into the second period, the usual suspect, Kristopher Richards, scored a lovely team goal, where he started with the puck, passed it to the left block, got it back and buried it in the cage. Westfield led 2-1, but Governor Livingston would not go down without a fight.
Soon after, Governor Livingston was two men up, playing a five on three. They would take advantage of this early Christmas gift, scoring to tie the game. One minute later, Governor Livingston had another five on three. Once again, the five on three was too much for Westfield’s penalty killing unit, and GL was once again on top.
“They have a talented team and if we go down shorthanded, they’re gonna put the puck in the back of the net. They got the kids to do it. We ultimately have to stay out of the penalty box and stop reaching, slashing, and hooking,” said Coach Bertucci.
Then with just under three minutes left in the second period, Alex Ebel, a player who finds himself in the scoresheet almost every game, buried a beautiful goal, which brought the game to the 3-3 draw going into the third period.
The now 4-0 Blue Devils had a solid gameplan.
“We knew the top of their team was really good. They have a really good first line of forwards and defenseman, so we really wanted to show our depth and wear them down over the course of the game,” said Tortorella.
The Blue Devils will take on rival Summit on Wednesday, who is off to a rough start to the season. In their first three games, the Hilltoppers hold a 1-1-1 record. However, Summit is historically a hockey powerhouse, so Westfield will need to stay out of the penalty box, and continue to wear teams down with its depth in order to come out victorious on Wednesday.
