Saugus overtakes Lynn Jets

SAUGUS – The Kasabuski Arena has been a house of horrors for opposing hockey teams. The Saugus icemen utilized that advantage with a pair of third-period scores in a 2-1 thriller over the Lynn Jets on Saturday evening.The victory created a three-way logjam atop the Northeastern Conference South between Saugus, Marblehead, and Swampscott (the Headers blanked the Big Blue on Saturday).Lynn (3-3) carried a 1-0 edge into the final stanza, but the Sachems quickly attacked the Jets zone from the faceoff, resulting in the tying goal just 1:19 into the period. Sophomore Mike Kotowski netted his first score of the season, when he took a feed from teammate Joe Vecchione, who was standing at the left side of the net. Kotowski, planted at the other side, one-timed the puck in the open right-hand side to deadlock the game at 1.”The kids knew they weren’t playing up to their potential (in the first two periods), as Lynn was really taking it to us,” said Saugus coach Chris Connors, whose team is 3-2-1. “That’s a credit to (Lynn) coach (Joe) Conlon and his staff. During the (second and third) periods, we told the kids to crash the net, and to keep throwing the puck in.”The Jets soon enjoyed a power-play advantage, which eventually became a 5-on-3 edge for 1:17 soon after the goal. Yet the team was thwarted by freshman goalie Nick Hegarty. He made a solid save on a flickering wrist shot by winger Eric Bransfield midway through the power play to keep the game tied.Vecchione had a chance moments later to move the Sachems ahead, but goalie Nick Comeau made a pad stop on his slap, with Kurt Rodrigues positioned in front for a possible loose rebound.However, Rodrigues came back to haunt the Jets midway through the period to give the Sachems the lead for the first time all night. He gathered a loose puck near mid-ice, skating in all alone on the breakaway. He went to fake out Comeau, and it looked as though the goalie made the stop. Yet the puck trickled into the net for a 2-1 Saugus advantage.”That first goal (by Kotowski) was our biggest breakdown,” said Conlon. “We were slow in getting back. That second goal came on a bad bounce for us. He (Rodrigues) got the puck at the blue line, and finished off the breakaway.”The Jets still had numerous chances to tie the game. Center Chris Surrette fired a slap from the right side that beat Hegarty, but rung off the far post. Right wing Jeff Porter, who scored the game’s first goal less than a minute after the opening faceoff, was robbed by Hegarty on a point-blank wrist shot with a few minutes remaining. Hegarty also stopped winger Dan Casale’s point-blank slap, with teammate John Finnigan in position for a possible rebound.Comeau was pulled for an extra attacker with just over a minute left, but Hegarty continued to ground the Jets. He stuffed Finnigan with 30 seconds remaining, then stonewalled Bransfield in the final seconds.”I really liked our resiliency,” said Connors. “We had come back (earlier in the season) from two goals down to beat Marblehead, then came back from a goal down earlier in the week to tie Lynnfield. Lynn outplayed us for two periods, so we were fortunate to come out with a win.”As happy as Connors was, Conlon was just the opposite.”It’s always tough to beat Saugus here,” Conlon said. “They always give a great effort. We had our chances (late) to tie, but we didn’t get the bounces.”The Jets attacked the Sachems zone right from the opening faceoff, and didn’t waste any time in opening up the scoring. Porter took a feed from Surrette, beating Hegarty 55 seconds into the contest for the game’s first score.Saugus had numerous opportunities to tie the game, due to several Lynn penalties, which created power plays for the Sachems. Yet Comeau was good to the test, halting every shot that came his way. Perhaps the best Saugus chance in the first period came when Rodrigues received a lead pass as he made his way over center ice and into the breakaway. Comeau held the fort, though.Both teams co