METHUEN — Through the first seven or eight minutes of the first period, it appeared as if it might be a long night for the Methuen High boys hockey team.
King Philip’s quickness and overall strong skating seemed to be too much for the Rangers.
But then Methuen settled down and got to work. The team’s relentless work through the neutral zone eventually led to strong forechecking and eventually four goals.
Then at the other end, freshman Elias Nakhoul, who was making his first varsity start, came up aces, stopping 19 shots.
That all led Methuen to a 4-2 win over the Warriors, and into Sunday night’s championship game of the annual Jersey Mike’s Holiday Tournament against Merrimack Valley Conference foe North Andover (7 p.m.).
Last year Methuen defeated Hopkinton in the final.
“I was excited about some things that we did: forechecking number one; and defensive zone we did a pretty good job there. We did a great job in things that we have kind of struggled with,” said Methuen head coach Billy Blackwell. “We also had our third line out there with thirty seconds left in the game. That group had a great game. They played well, they did a lot of the little things and they were in the right spot all night.”
King Philip jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 2:50 into the game. The lead easily could have been two, but Nakhoul made a terrific left pad save to stuff Anthony Murphy on a breakaway.
“How about Elias in net for us? This was his first varsity start and he looked like a veteran out there,” said Blackwell. “The kid worked so hard all summer to get better and it showed tonight. Now he builds confidence in the locker room as the kids know he can play.”
Several minutes after that stop, Methuen got on the board as sophomore Jackson Laplante fired a low shot from the left dot area into the far corner. Seventy-two seconds later, Will MacLaren put home a rebound giving the Rangers the 2-1 lead after the first period.
Sophomore Dylan Anderson scored the game winning goal on a power play with 8:06 left in the second period.
After King Philip cut it down to 3-2 with a goal coming with 3:42 left in the game, junior Colin Comeau intercepted a clear out pass from the Warriors’ goalie and blasted a shot to the far corner to ice the game.
“I purposely wanted to face King Philip first. They are a quick, good skating team,” said Blackwell. “They’ll be a Division 2 state tournament team so I’m excited that we were able to come away with the win. Now we get to play in the final again in a rivalry game – it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Methuen 4, King Philip 2
First: 1, KP, Finn Cunningham (Tom Frazier, Matt Crotty), 3:50; 2, ME, Jackson Laplante (Michael Yirrell, Elliott Perry), 9:25; 3, ME, Will MacLaren (Andrew Cox and Dylan Anderson), 11:37.
Second: 4, ME, Anderson (Cox and MacLaren), 8:54 (PP).
Third: 5, KP, Evan Regan (Joe Robison), 11:18 (PP); 6, ME, Colin Comeau (una), 11:50.
Saves: KP, Hayden Tyrell 17; ME, Elias Nakhoul 19.