SIMSBURY, Conn. — Buzzer beaters are usually reserved for basketball, but Nate Pane’s goal just before regulation time expired salvaged a 2-2 tie for Westminster in Monday’s Founders League game against Trinity-Pawling at Jackson Rink.
Penalties once again doomed Bobby Ferraris’ team as both Westminster goals came with a Pride player in the penalty box. The game-tying goal was a two-man advantage thanks to the goaltender being pulled for the extra attacker. Defenseman Ned Blanchard, who assisted on the last second tally, was the other goal scorer for the Martlets (1-2-1).
Gabe Blanchard and Dartmouth commit Joey Musa lit the lamp for a Trinity-Pawling team that remains winless on the season with an 0-2-2 record.
It was a very uneventful game in terms of scoring chances. Neither team could generate much in terms of offense. Neither goalie, Westy’s Ian Shane or T-P’s Evan Ruschil, was forced to make too many tough saves.
Scoring Recap
Gabe Blanchard scored the only goal of the first period. He jumped up into the rush and received a pass from John Gelatt before taking a few strides towards the net from the left side. His hard wrist shot hit Shane in the chest, but it deflected up and over the goaltender’s shoulder before trickling slowly into the net. Taylor Ewing had the secondary assist.
Ned Blanchard evened the score 6:12 into the second period after a brutal neutral zone turnover by a T-P defenseman. The swift-footed defenseman took the puck and went straight into the zone before blasting a wrist shot past Ruschil.
Joey Musa answered for the Pride just 17 seconds later after intercepting a clearing attempt and firing it into the net.
The score stayed 2-1 in favor of the Pride until the final seconds when Pane was able to pick up the puck out of a scrum in front and bury it into the back of the net.
T-P killed a penalty in overtime, but there were very few close calls for either team in the extra session.
Team Notes
Trinity-Pawling has yet to win and has had trouble staying disciplined. Penalties cost the Pride on Monday as they did in Saturday’s game at Avon Old Farms. The team’s defensive group is good enough to win hockey games, but only if they keep it simple and stay out of the box. The top five defenders all can play with toughness and have size, but sometimes as a group, they tend to overhandle the puck. If the team can get some secondary scoring, Ferraris’ group should turn things around.
Westy plays a conservative style and tends to try to win with defense. The top four defensemen are all good prep players and Tim Joncas’ team has good goaltending. Hopefully ’03 Greyson Pane gets a chance to start a few games.
Prospect Notes
Five NHL scouts were in the building to watch Westminster’s two Europeans, left wing Ignat Belov and defenseman Malik Alishlalov. Neither player, both committed to UConn, were very impressive. Alishlalov made a few decent plays with the puck, but his hockey sense is a concern.
There were four college coaches in attendance to take in the action as well. Both T-P and Westy have a few uncommitted players of interest.
Ned Blanchard and Will Gilson are two puck-moving, offensive-minded defensemen for the Martlets. Blanchard had a goal and an assist and made a couple of nice plays with his stick to defend on the rush. Gilson is a good skater who walked the blue line well and can skate well.
It was a quiet game for some of Westminster’s top uncommitted forwards, Jacob Monroe, Sean Clarke and Jordie McKenna. If forced to pick one, Monroe had the best game of the trio. He was around the puck some and assisted on the game-tying goal.
For the visitors from Trinity-Pawling, Jack Musa played on the top line with Stephen Willey and his brother, Joey Musa. He’s a bulldog who plays fearless. He’ll hunt pucks and go to the dirty areas. He made a couple of flashy plays with the puck late in the game and narrowly missed what would have given his team a two-goal advantage. Jack Musa is starting to garner attention from several schools across the country.
Willey doesn’t have the skill that either Musa has, but he’s heavy on pucks, plays with an edge, and engages in all three zones. He’s a heavy, north-south player. He lacks the separation speed as evidenced by a chance he had on the rush in which he couldn’t really pull away from the opposing defender. Nonetheless, he’s absolutely a Division I hockey player.
While Gabe Blanchard scored a goal, he continued to have difficulty staying out of the box. He’s a mean defenseman with some skill. His physical tools are certainly intriguing, but his hockey sense needs to improve in order to finally earn a Division I commit. Several schools have courted him over the last year or so following the 2017 USA Hockey Select 17 Camp.
The best T-P defenseman on Monday was ’02 Cam Grillo, who has good size and can play both ways. His skating is slightly above average and he can move pucks while not being flashy. He’s physical enough in his own zone. He should get a Division I commit down the line.
Trinity-Pawling Lines
13 Jack Musa - 8 Joey Musa - 18 S. Willey
19 C. Zezima - 10 J. Gelatt - 17 T. Ewing
11 S. Murphy - 21 J. Aloi - 7 J. Breton
16 K. Stober - 20 C. Hade - 33 C. McKay
4 P. Waugh - 2 C. Grillo
5 G. Blanchard - 3 J. Garvey
23 S. Perez - 6 C. Colantonio
1 E. Ruschil
Westminster Lines
91 I. Belov - 15 J. McKenna - 19 J. Monroe
11 N. Pane - 13 S. Clarke - 17 W. Pastor
10 M. Kramlich - 14 T. Kinney - 21 N. Kaplan
9 Q. Armstrong - 23 D. Benchich - 16 J. Nelson
4 M. Alishlalov - 5 N. Blanchard
7 R. Pineault - 8 W. Gilson
12 P. Sanger - 3 B. Huisman
XD - 6 Z. Papapetros
30 I. Shane
