RallyNorth.net

Tue, Dec 26, 2017 08:20 PM @ Salem

Team	1	2	Final
Windham	2	2	4
Salem	0	0	0

Windham 4, Salem 0

SALEM — On the back of a strong special teams unit, Windham cruised past Salem, 4-0, last night at the Icenter in the opening round of the Tuscan Kitchen Blue Devil Classic.

The Jaguars scored on the power play, scored on the penalty kill and held the Blue Devils scoreless on eight power-play attempts.

“This is a good win,” said Windham head coach Shawn Dunn. “Salem is always a team that’s prepared and they play hard, so to get a win over them is something to be proud of.”

Windham got on the scoreboard first scoring on its third power play of the game in the opening half of the first period. With Salem a man down for cross checking, Alex Tunik converted for Windham, banking in a rebound off a shot from center Michael Montanile, who was playing the point on the power play.

Later in the period, with just 3:12 remaining, Windham was killing down two men (5-on-3) when Nolan Cunningham broke up a D-to-D pass and raced in alone, scoring high to the blocker side.

“Getting a shorthanded goal down two men is huge,” said Dunn, who starred on Salem’s first-ever varsity hockey team. “That really changed the momentum. It gave our kill a lot of confidence to take over the game a little bit.

“With (Nolan’s) speed, as soon as he didn’t fall down coming out of that battle, we knew he was going to take off and you just know when it’s on his stick it’s going to go in.”

Windham continued to pressure late in the period, again on the power play. In total, the Jaguars had five first-period power plays.

The Jaguars nearly let Salem back in the game in the second, though, taking five straight penalties in the first 12:00 of the second period. Salem out-attempted Windham 18-2 in the first eight minutes of the period, tilting the ice in their favor up a man.

But Windham’s penalty kill was strong, killing off a second 5-on-3, and then the Jaguars went back to work in the offensive zone.

“We’ve been on the right side of a bunch of lopsided wins, so our kill has gotten a lot of opportunities,” Dunn said. “We’ve had a lot of practice at it, unfortunately, but we’re happy with it.”

Windham controlled the puck on a delayed Salem penalty for almost one full minute before Davin Granaham found the net to make it 3-0. Under three minutes later, Matthew Taylor dangled out of the corner and roofed a backhander past Jacobs to make it 4-0.

Max Daly finished with 23 saves for the shutout.

“He had to see them through traffic,” Dunn said. “He had some guys pushed in front of him but he played well and ate up all the rebounds. He’s been solid for us all year.”

 

Windham 4, Salem 0

Windham (5-0):     2 2 — 4

Salem (1-2):     0 0 0 — 0

Tuscan Blue Devil Classic

First Half: 1. W Alex Tunik (Michael Montanile, Jake Aleksa), pp, 11:17; 2. W Nolan Cunningham (unassisted), sh, 19:13.

Second Half: 3. W Davin Granaham, ex, 12:57; 4. W Matthew Taylor, ev, 15:39.

Goalies: S — David Jacobs; W — Max Daly

 

 

Additional stories:

• Windham 4, Salem 0
• Windham 4, Salem 0