Uva, Lynn Jets earn point in season finale

LYNN – There is an adage in hockey talk that says “no shot is a bad shot,” and the Lynn Jets are surely firm believers in the claim following Wednesday afternoon?s 3-3 tie with Bedford.Just when it appeared the Jets would head into the MIAA Division 3 State Tournament with consecutive losses, Tony Uva made sure he and his fellow seniors wouldn?t suffer a defeat in their final game at Connery Rink.Trailing 3-2 with 1:29 left in the final period, the fourth-year forward wound up a slap shot from outside the Buccaneers? blue line and beat goalie Matt Judge to the top left corner.?That was quite a shot from Tony and after we struggled to put the puck on net all game long,” explained coach Joe Conlon. “It was nice to see us rewarded late in the game. We?ll certainly take the point.”Lynn (13-6-1) mustered just 12 shots on the evening, scoring twice on five attempts in the final 15 minutes.Trailing 3-1 after two periods, the Jets cut the deficit to one at the 7:33 mark when senior Pat Finnigan found the far side on a wrist shot from the left dot. Fellow fourth-year Ryan MacDonald picked up an assist.?For us to come back from two goals down in the final period was a nice to see and something we can take into the playoffs,” said Conlon. “Bedford is a tough team who should be a handful once the tournament begins.”After a sluggish first saw the visitors outshoot Lynn 7-5 and take a 1-0 lead on a rebound goal from Brendan Flynn (assisted by David Bartkus), the teams combined for three tallies in the middle frame.A fantastic effort from Uva on the penalty kill 3:14 into the period resulted in the equalizer.With Brett Erelli off for elbowing, Uva took a shot off the shin pads and was off to the races down the right side.After cutting to the middle and sliding the puck through a defenseman?s skates, his backhand bid fought its way through starting netminder Andrew Spaulding and trickled towards the line, where Dan Rustani poked it home.?Tony really stepped up today and had an excellent game offensively,” said Conlon. “That shorthanded opportunity was created by his willingness to block a shot and it got us going a bit.”Bedford (9-7-3) answered with consecutive tallies, the first from Flynn on the power play at 7:11. After getting a pass from Bartkus in the high slot, Flynn unleashed a laser of a slap shot to the lower left corner.Just under three minutes later, Bartkus was awarded a penalty shot, which he cashed in on, beating an aggressive Jack Stafford (21 saves) with a shot to the top left corner.Conlon and the Jets now await their tournament seeding, believed to be a top-four spot in a field that consisted of 12 teams (Bedford included) last season.?There are a bunch of teams we could see that have given us some trouble,” said Conlon of his team?s next potential opponent. “All we can do now is sit and wait for an opponent and try to get ready for them.”