Lynn Jets soar past Salem

SALEM – Less than 24 hours after suffering a heartbreaking tie against Abington on Tuesday, the Lynn Jets were back on the ice playing for their postseason lives against Salem at Rockett Arena.Shaking off a sluggish start, the Jets busted open a 1-0 game with three second-period goals en route to a 5-2 win over the Witches that leaves them one point away from the Division 3 North sectionals with one game left – a home date with current D3 North leader Rockport on Tuesday (4).Click here for a photo gallery.”If you told me before the season that we’d have a home game as our last game to get in the tournament, I would have taken it,” Jets coach Joe Conlon said. “This team has been through a lot but we still haven’t accomplished our goal.”The game was marred by a stoppage early in the second period when a Salem player had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher following a hit by Lynn’s Aaron Reddick behind the Witches’ goal. Reports were that the player had full movement of all extremities as he left the ice.Lynn (8-8-3, 5-8-1 NEC South) had some early chances but Witches netminder Brett Harring kept the Jets off the scoreboard. Salem nearly took a 1-0 lead late in the first when Spencer Bergholtz’ shot handcuffed Mike Gately but the Jets goalie reacted quickly to bat the loose puck over the net.Moments later, John Finnigan took the puck end-to-end and snapped a shot over Harring’s glove to give Lynn a 1-0 lead after one period.”Salem is a team that always plays us well,” Conlon said. “They are undermanned but they work as hard as anybody.”The second period would be dominated by Lynn as the Jets outshot Salem, 12-1, in the middle frame.Harring was brilliant early but stood no chance on a perfect feed from Kyle Devin to Tony Uva on a power play for a 2-0 Jets lead at 5:22. The Witches hung in as Harring looked like he was going to keep it close into the second intermission.Then the wheels fell off the wagon for Salem.Sean Gately’s shot broke off Harring’s glove and trickled in with 27 seconds left for a 3-0 lead. Then, with time running out, Finnigan copied his first-period goal, scoring with 1.7 seconds left to make it 4-0 after two.”We started to get our legs in the second period and played a little better,” Conlon said. “The entire team picked it up.”The Jets kept right on flying in the third as Dan Rustani redirected Tony Uva’s shot in the slot to make it a 5-0 game at 3:56. The Witches spoiled Gately’s shutout bid with a pair of Matt LeBlanc goals late in the third.