Tie brings good results for both Peabody, Danvers

PEABODY – It was probably one of the few times that the Danvers and Peabody hockey teams skated off the ice happy with a 3-3 tie on Thursday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.Click here for a photo gallery.For the Tanners, the point allowed them to clinch their first Northeastern Conference/North championship while the Falcons used the point to help ensure a trip to the postseason after missing out a season ago.”Danvers played great but we found a way to get it done in the third, we really did,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “It’s nice to finally be able to win a Northeastern Conference championship. These kids have worked so hard this year so it’s special.”Down the hall, it was a subdued celebration for the Falcons (8-4-4), who saw a 3-1 third period lead vanish.”I’m sure we will probably be happy when we wake up (today) that we’re back in the playoffs,” Danvers coach Kevin Brown said. “But these kids want to win, that’s what it comes down to. And we had a chance to get two points against a great team in their building.”For 30 minutes on Thursday, it was the Falcons who hit harder, had more scoring chances and led 2-1 after two periods, leading Leonard to have a small chat with his team in the intermission.”Usually I’d go in there and scream at them but I simply asked them if that was all they had with a league championship on the line,” Leonard said. “They said they had more and came out screaming in the third.”It took only 49 seconds for the Tanners (13-2-2) to shift all the momentum onto their bench as Matt Rodgers backhanded home an Andrew Bucci rebound to slice the lead to a goal. Rodgers was cross-checked on the play, drawing the ire of the Peabody bench, which got even more energy after the play.”We really took exception to that and it really rallied the team,” Leonard said.Danvers would then begin making regular trips to the box but Peabody couldn’t convert on two power plays in the first 3:05 of the third. Midway through the period, Chris Kontos was called for hooking and the Tanners finally struck.Off a perfect feed from Bucci, Rodgers slammed home his second goal of the game and 14th of the season to deadlock the game at 3-3 with 6:35 remaining.Danvers, though, didn’t back down and began to take back control of the game in the final minutes. The Falcons would have to dodge another late power play and then barely missed a chance to win when D.J. Yost whistled a shot wide of the goal with five seconds left after a Falcon timeout.”Danvers was really hungry (Thursday),” Leonard said. “And I’m happy for them. Kevin is a great guy and I love how those kids play. I know I don’t want to have to play them again in the tournament.”