NEWBURYPORT — You absolutely need to play a full 45 minutes of great hockey if you want to beat a program like Canton.
That’s a mandate, not a suggestion.
And it’s not like Newburyport didn’t know that when it welcomed the Bulldogs into the Graf Rink for a Monday matinee. Remember, it was just two years ago that these powerhouse programs met in the Division 2 Quarterfinals, a game that the Bulldogs won to ultimately propel them to their fourth State Championship crown since 2010.
So if you’re looking for a “Hockey Gold Standard” across the state, Canton has to be near the top of the list.
A fact that showed itself on Monday.
Newburyport held on for as long as it could, even scoring the first goal of the game when Owen Mongeau converted on a breakaway midway through the second period. But the dam eventually broke, and Canton would score six unanswered goals over the last 20 minutes of game action to skate away with a commanding 6-1 victory.
Again, you have to play a full 45 minutes against the Bulldogs (10-1-1).
Just 25 minutes isn’t going to cut it.
But, even in defeat, there’s always still lessons to be learned for a young Newburyport (5-7-0) squad. And hanging with a program the calibur of Canton for as long as it did is at least a small step in the right direction.
Like during the entire first period, where both teams really didn’t create any dangerous opportunities. You know that Newburyport has a steady, veteran goalie in reigning Daily News MVP Damien Lamb, but the senior captain didn’t have to work all that hard during the opening frame. The Clippers’ two defensemen teams of Will Forrest-Jagger Gudaitis and Mason Varay-Alex Lambert did a solid job keeping Canton along the boards, along with blocking shots headed towards Lamb.
And they also killed a penalty after failing to convert on the game’s first power play earlier in the period.
Then on the other end, Newburyport’s top two forward lines logged heavy minutes. The trio of Jack Sullivan, Luke MacIsaac and Henry Waddell — who are all sophomores or younger — have been the team’s top scoring unit this winter. But after a scorless first period, it was the Finn McNeil-Brian Lucy-Mongeau line that put the Clippers ahead midway through the second. A cleared puck took an awkward bounce over the stick of a Canton defender, and Mongeau’s momentum powered him to a clean breakaway that he converted by going through the goalie’s legs.
But at that moment, with 6:43 left in the second period, it all came apart.
Canton needed just 90 seconds to find the equalizer, scoring on a 2-on-1 rush. Lamb stopped the inital shot, but the rebound came right to Ryan Elrick for the easy tap-in to tie things up. Then with two minutes left in the second, a wide shot from Teddy Shuman took an unexpected bounce off the back boards. While Lamb and mostly everyone on the ice was expecting the puck to land in one direction, it actually bounced the opposite way and right to the stick of Travis Thomas. The senior captain basically had an open net, and didn’t miss the opportunity to put his team up 2-1 at the second intermission.
And the Bulldogs left no doubt early in the third.
Andrew Gillis scored just over a minute into the period, and moments later it was Huck McCready making it a 4-1 Canton lead. The Bulldogs would then find the back of the net two more times over the final 2:30 of the game to help their margain of victory metric in the MIAA power rankings.
Newburyport will look to get back on track when it travels up to play Rockport on Wednesday night (8 p.m.). The Clippers had won three in a row to get back to .500, but have since dropped games to Essex Tech and now Canton.