Saugus, Peabody icemen play to a tie in entertaining game

PEABODY – For the Peabody and Saugus hockey teams, Wednesday’s 1-1 tie at McVann-O’Keefe Rink wasn’t the ideal outcome but it was one that both teams would gladly take after an entertaining affair.Click here for a photo gallery.Each club had 24 shots on goal in the contest and numerous quality scoring chances that were stoned by goaltenders Nick Hegarty of Saugus and Peabody’s Derek Savage for 45 minutes.”It was a great high school hockey game,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “That was two quality teams battling back and forth and both of us played really hard. No one likes a tie but it’s almost right with how this game was.”The Sachems (4-1-4) owned the first and third periods while the Tanners (6-1-2) controlled the second period as the crowd was holding its breath almost from the opening puck drop.”We’ve battled with them twice now and if that’s one of the elite programs in the area, it says a lot about where our team is right now,” Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci said. “That was a good game.”Saugus’ tenacity on the forecheck was evident throughout a first period that the Sachems controlled to the tune of a 10-3 shots on goal advantage. Only Savage and his stellar netminding kept the game scoreless after the first 15 minutes.No save was bigger than his point-blank robbery of third-line winger Tyler Stretton at the top of the crease less than five minutes in.”I felt like we dominated the first,” Natalucci said. “And if we could have popped a couple in there it might have been a different game. But that’s how we want our forecheck to be, like it was in that first period.”The Zamboni end of the rink seemed to be lucky as the Tanners were skating towards that end of the ice in the second period and they turned the tables on Saugus, putting immense pressure on Hegarty.The Tanners had the game’s first two power play opportunities early in the second but came away empty each time and then saw defenseman Ryan Noftle shaken up on a big hit from Ralph Paglucca just after the second man advantage.Saugus went on the attack via its first power play moments later but came away with nothing before Peabody broke the ice just after the man advantage expired.Noftle, in his first shift back on the ice after being shaken up, went to the net and banged home a second swipe at a Mike Chiappini rebound to give the Tanners the lead at 8:28.”We played a really good second period,” Leonard said.Each team would have one more power play in the period as the teams went to the second intermission with Peabody still holding its 1-0 lead.The third period reverted back to the same script from the opening period as Saugus went back on the attack from the drop of the puck.Kurt Rodrigues had a partial breakaway but was stopped by a quick shoulder save from Savage. Moments later, he wouldn’t be stopped as Drew Oxley made a perfect pass on a 2-on-1 for a Rodrigues tap-in to tie it up with 11:37 remaining.”To come out and play the way we did in the first and then get down 1-0 in the second and come back in the third says a lot about how this team has grown this year,” Natalucci said.The end-to-end action continued the rest of the way as both goaltenders made huge saves in the final minutes to preserve the 1-1 tie.