LYNN — It might go down as a tie in the record book, but don’t tell that to freshman Griffin Bruhm and the Swampscott boys hockey team.
After finishing regulation tied 3-3, the Big Blue won the shootout 3-2 with Bruhm’s goal being the deciding factor as they beat the Lynn Jets in the opening round of the Lynn Christmas Tournament at Connery Rink on Wednesday evening.
“Both teams played well,” Jets coach Mike Roberts said. “Swampscott’s goalie did an excellent job blocking shots. We kept coming. That’s one thing this team does well, we keep coming and we don’t give up.”
It won’t count toward the regular-season record as a win, but it means Swampscott will get a chance to repeat as Christmas Tournament champions.
“We started off slow today, but the guys kept battling all night and did a great job,” said Swampscott coach Gino Faia. “To get three out of four powerplay goals and come back from behind twice, that shows a lot. And obviously, Dan (Johnson) was out of his mind in net once again tonight.”
Senior captain Dom Codispoti had one goal and one assist to lead the way, while senior captain Steve Santanello and senior Brett Benoit had one goal each for the Big Blue. Senior Tim Farley notched one assist. Senior captain goalkeeper Dan Johnson had 24 saves.
For Lynn, senior captain Sean Devin, junior Brian Clougherty and junior John DiFilippo each had one goal. Senior captain Mike Clougherty had three assists. Junior goalie Jack Gallant had a strong performance in net.
“Jack played excellent,” Roberts said. “He made some saves in the slot and kept us in the game, especially in the second period.”
The first period started just the way the Jets wanted it to, as they pounded Johnson with shots early on, but he turned them all away in impressive fashion. After one, Lynn was outshooting Swampscott, 12-2.
That trend appeared to continue into the second period, as the Jets got four shots on goal within the first two minutes of the frame. Then, Lynn was able to capitalize.
The Jets dumped the puck deep and chased it behind the net, with Clougherty taking control in “Gretzky’s office.” He quickly saw DiFilippo slip open in front of the net and hit him with a perfect pass right onto his stick, which DiFilippo promptly buried in the back of the net for a 1-0 Lynn lead.
But the momentum turned quickly. Less than 30 seconds later Swampscott was on the power play and Benoit hit the post on a great scoring opportunity. Then, after being awarded a 5-on-3 due to another Lynn penalty, Benoit cashed in with a perfect wrist shot from the right circle to tie the game.
If that wasn’t bad enough for Lynn, Swampscott snatched the lead just before the end of the first when Farley hit Santanello for a goal.
But Lynn kept getting chances. The Jets were awarded two power plays in the first seven minutes of the third period, and they capitalized on one thanks to their relentlessness in the offensive zone. After peppering Johnson with shots, one rebound bounced free and onto the stick of Devin as he was crashing the net, leading to the goal that made it 2-2. Less than two minutes later, now at full strength, almost the same exact thing happened when Johnson let another rebound slip away, this time onto the stick of Downey. He buried the shot and gave Lynn a 3-2 lead with just over five minutes to go.
But again, Swampscott didn’t quit.
On their fourth power play of the night, with only 4:15 left in the game, Codispoti tied the score at 3-3 with a great wrist shot from the slot, forcing a shootout.
“That goal by Dom was the first time this season that someone other than Steve (Santanello) or Brett (Benoit) scored for us,” said Faia.
Both teams started hot in the shootout, with Clougherty and Santanello each scoring to start things off. Elwell scored for Swampscott two rounds later, but then Aidan Seitz saved the game for Lynn with a goal the round after that. Tied at 2-2, both goalies made six saves in a row before Bruhm netted the eventual game-winner. After one last save by Johnson, the game was Swampscott’s.
The Big Blue have a quick turnaround, with the championship game coming up tonight at 6 p.m. against Northeast back at Connery.
Lynn battles Latin Academy at 4 p.m. in the consolation game.
“It’s almost a must win for us,” Roberts said. “We have to play Latin Academy and then Beverly on Saturday. That’s three difficult games. If we can come away with two points tomorrow we’ll be happy about that.”
