Lynn Jets defeat Beverly

LYNN – With one rush up ice on Wednesday, the Lynn Jets made a statement that they might be a team to contend with in the second half of the NEC South conference slate.Kyle Devin’s highlight reel goal with 4:32 left in the third broke a 1-1 tie and John Finnigan’s insurance goal two minutes later was enough as Mike Gately made 28 saves to give the Jets a 3-1 win over Beverly.Click here for a photo gallery.”Every single kid gave everything they had,” Lynn coach Joe Conlon said. “And that’s what it takes to win games like this. The kids bought into the game plan and worked so hard.”The Jets (4-3-1) were playing for the second time in as many days and the wear began to show at the outset of the third period when the Panthers (3-4-1) took control of the game for nearly 10 minutes. It was only for the spectacular at times play from Gately in goal that the contest was still tied.”That’s the best that Mike has played all year,” Conlon said. “We were really on our heels there for the first 10 minutes of the third but to our credit, we stayed strong.”Devin then scored what in time could prove to be a season turning goal for Lynn.Ryan McDonald tipped a pass up to Devin at the Lynn line and off the junior defenseman went. Two dangles later, Devin snapped a wrist shot past Bryce Mitchell for a 2-1 lead.”That was an amazing goal,” Conlon said. “We’d had so many chances and they had so many chances that you’d have thought it was a 4-4 game instead of 1-1.”Devin then played a role in the knockout blow for the Jets as he got the puck to Finnigan in the left circle, from where he sliced into the slot and put a backhander over Mitchell’s glove at 12:28.The Panthers had a chance to make it interesting with just over a minute left when Finnigan was called for cross-checking and Mitchell was pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage. But the Lynn defense, which was stout all game, blocked four shots and killed the final 67 seconds of the game.”Our defense played phenomenal all game,” Conlon said.It looked like it was going to be a frustrating game for the Jets in the first period as they had three breakaways against Mitchell in the first 10 minutes but came away empty in a scoreless first period.McDonald would have a fourth breakaway midway through the second period but Mitchell came up with two stellar pad saves to keep it scoreless.As it turned out, the fifth time would be the charm for Lynn as Mark Brazell tipped a puck at the Lynn line, sending Tony Uva in alone and he tucked a shot past McDonald at 10:10.The lead, though, would last all of 14 seconds as on the next sortie down ice, third-liner Graham Doherty crashed the net and tapped home Ryan Caley’s rebound to tie the game.