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Pinkerton Astros Boys Ice Hockey '19-'20

Thu, Dec 26, 2019 04:30 PM @ Neutral Location
Team 1 2 3 Final
Pinkerton 2 0 1 3
Windham 1 0 1 2

Drouin scores winner in final moments, Pinkerton holds off Windham

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Thursday, December, 26 By David Willis
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. — Mason Drouin watched the play unfold in front of him, and when it was his chance to strike, the Pinkerton senior was ready.

 “My brother (Hunter Drouin) passed the puck up to Ethan Burgess, and he tried to get past a guy,” said Mason. “I just trailed him to see if the puck would come free. It did, so I shot it, and it went in. It was so exciting.”

Drouin fired home the game-winning goal with 1:45 left in regulation, as Pinkerton held off upset-minded Windham 3-2 in the first round of the Tuscan Kitchen Blue Devil Classic.

“We came back fired up, came out and got the win,” said goalie Matt Gilliland. “We had a rough start, but we got a good win. And that goal by Drouin was amazing.”
Big plays are nothing new to Drouin, an Eagle-Tribune All-Star last winter after finishing third in the area with 16 goals. He also helped lead the Pinkerton lacrosse team to its second straight Division 1 state title in the spring.
“We know Mason is a clutch guy,” said Astros (2-1) head coach Sam Littlefield. “When he gets the puck on his stick in their end, we know he has a dangerous shot, and he’s going to take advantage of that.”
Playing a day after celebrating Christmas, however, meant a bit of an adjustment period for Drouin.
“It’s tough because you have to work off all the cookies and treats and all the bad stuff you ate on Christmas,” said Drouin with a laugh. “But once you get through the first period, everything is good.”
It was Windham (0-3) that carried the momentum out of the gates on Thursday. The Jaguars took the lead with 6:47 left in the first on a Tommy Langlois goal.
But Pinkerton needed just 1:30 to respond, when Hunter Drouin hammered home a rebound to tie the game. Then, just 59 seconds later, Mason Drouin found Burgess, who slipped it past the goalie to make it 2-1.
The Jaguars kept the deficit at one goal by killing a pair of penalties in the second, along with a pair of huge stops by freshman Vito Mancini (26 saves).
Windham then tied the game 4:58 into the third, when Langlois picked the puck up behind his own blue line, then raced nearly the length of the ice before sliding it home to make it 2-2.
It remained the way — thanks in part to some huge saves from Mancini and Pinkerton hitting a post with 3:02 left — until Drouin struck.
“(Shooting) from the slot, with no one in front of me, I was confident it would go in,” said Drouin. “It was exciting to score that goal. It feels good to get a win. We didn’t play up to our potential at times, but we got the win and that’s what mattered.”
Windham mustered a final flurry in the final moments on a power play and the goalie pulled, but Gilliland was there to shut the door, making a game-clinching glove save on a rocket shot with 0:01 to go.
“The last few seconds were definitely interesting,” said Gilliland, who made 22 stops. “It’s hard to play 6-on-4. We could have done without that penalty. But we pulled it out for the win.”
The Astros next hope to make a statement on Saturday, when they face Salem (3-0), the team that shocked them in the Division 1 quarterfinals last winter.
“We have Salem on Saturday,” said Drouin. “We want to show them what we can do. That’s a very important game after last year. We are very pumped. We want to take it to them.”

Game Statistics:

Tuscan Blue Devil Classic

Goals: Pinkerton — Hunter Drouin, Ethan Burgess, Mason Drouin; Windham — Tommy Langlois 2

Assists: Pinkerton — Aidan Price, Burgess 2, M. Drouin, H. Drouin, Ethan Livingston; Windham — Bobby Dicicco, Michael Montanile

Saves: Pinkerton — Matt Gilliland 22; Windham — Vito Mancini 26

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