Peabody, Winthrop hockey teams draw blanks

PEABODY – It was the exact situation that Peabody coach Mark Leonard could have hoped for with his team in a scoreless tie in the waning seconds against Winthrop on Saturday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.The Vikings had pulled their goalie with 30 seconds left and a power play to try and go for the win that would keep them alive and kicking in the NEC North race.But it was Peabody’s Andrew Bucci, the North Shore’s leading goal scorer, who found the puck on his stick and a yawning net staring at him some 180 feet away.Bucci, though, wouldn’t be a hero as Winthrop’s Jake Rand was able to just deflect Bucci’s shot enough to send it inches wide of the left post and insure a 0-0 tie that was seemingly right between two of the best clubs Division 2 North has to offer.”The best goal scorer in the area has the puck on his stick at the end. And on the bench were thinking ‘Man, we’re going to win this game’,” Leonard said. “But their kid made a great play to just deflect Bucch’s stick enough. It was almost right that the game ended up the way that it did.”The fans that jammed into the cozy confines of McVann-O’Keefe on Saturday night got their money’s worth as this wasn’t your run-of-the mill scoreless tie. It was far from it.Both teams traded salvos in a fast-paced highly entertaining affair that saw goaltenders Derek Savage of Peabody and Winthrop’s Pat Feeley – in his second start back after missing time with mononucleosis -trade spectacular save after spectacular save against two ultra talented offenses.”Those were two very good hockey teams going at it out there,” Winthrop coach Dale Dunbar said.”Anybody who paid their admission (Saturday) got their money’s worth. My kids gave everything they had and so did Mark’s. If either one of us could have capitalized on our chances, it could have been a different game.”The game was up tempo from the drop of the puck as both teams didn’t waste much time in getting reacquainted after Peabody had pretty much dominated from start-to-finish in a 4-1 win on opening night in Winthrop.Both teams had a power play in the first period and Feeley provided the period’s big play when he flashed the leather and snared Steve Hatchouel’s scoring chance with 2:04 left.”I think that we’re a much better team than when we played them the first time,” Dunbar said.”Pat’s first game back was just the other day against Fenwick and he gave us a real good boost (Saturday).”Early in the second, Peabody’s Matt Rodgers was turned away on the doorstep by Feeley. That served as a wakeup call for the Vikings (11-1-2), who would control the rest of the period.After dodging an early power play for Winthrop, Peabody saw a couple of quality scoring chances go by the board before Savage made his biggest save of the game to this point, stoning Brendan Loomis in the final 90 seconds to keep the game scoreless.”Both goaltenders were absolutely tremendous,” Leonard said.”These are the kinds of games that we’re going to have to win in the tournament ? We are going to score goals on most teams. We just have to work on playing well in our end and we did that well (Saturday).”The breakneck pace continued throughout the third as Winthrop finished the night with a 24-18 shots on goal advantage and then added more drama to an already tension filled game when it went on the power play with 32 ticks remaining after Mike Broughton was called for tripping.Dunba r called timeout and asked his troops if they wanted to go for the win.”Everyone on the bench said they wanted to (go for the win),” Dunbar said. “A tie really was going to do us no good in the league with the way Peabody is playing.”The move nearly worked as Winthrop came close to beating Savage and then dodged the bullet thanks to Rand’s play on Bucci’s attempt to win it.