SALEM — A bad period from each team led to a deadlock in the end as the Lynn and Swampscott boys hockey teams skated to a 3-3 tie in a marquee Northeastern Conference matchup at Rockett Arena on Wednesday night. The Big Blue held a 3-1 lead and had a 5-on-3 advantage going into the third period, but couldn’t hold onto the lead.
“I don’t like ties, especially this kind where you lose the lead late,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “This has happened in three of the five ties we’ve had this year, so we need to clean it up.”
Swampscott got goals from Steve Santanello, Drew Olivieri and Brett Benoit. Dom Codispoti had two assists in the draw, while Zach Elwell, Conor Donovan and Jack Poska each had one assist. Goalie Dan Johnson had 30 saves.
Lynn was led by Mike Clougherty, who scored two goals, while Travis Ryan scored one goal. Brian Clougherty contributed two assists, while Owen Downey and Sean Devin had one assist each. Goalie Jack Gallant had 15 saves.
“I was happy with the way we came back in this one,” said Lynn coach Mike Roberts. “We came out hot to start and then lost our composure a bit in the middle, but then finished strong to come back for the tie. Obviously there’s plenty we can work on, but I liked that we never stopped fighting.”
Lynn got things going early despite getting outshot in the early going. The Jets got on the board less than five minutes into the first period when they grabbed the puck in their own zone and started a three-on-one break. Devin skated up the left side with the puck before sending a pass to Ryan, who flipped it into the net on the backhand for a 1-0 lead.
Swampscott continued the be aggressive after giving up the goal, eventually drawing a penalty to get on the power play with 3:12 remaining in the first. Less than 30 seconds into that power play, Codispoti won a battle for the puck on the boards and spun around a nifty backhanded pass right to Santanello, who smacked it in with a quick snapshot to tie the score.
Unfortunately for Lynn, things started to unravel a bit in the second period. The Jets were called for four penalties in the period, with one of those resulting directly in a Swampscott goal. The Big Blue notched an even-strength goal to take a 2-1 lead when Olivieri knocked home a ricocheted puck with 5:25 left in the second. Then came a string of three Lynn penalties in a span of less than two minutes, which left the Jets stuck in a 5-on-3 situation for over eight minutes of game action. They managed to kill off the first one, but Swampscott eventually took advantage when Benoit scored with 38.5 seconds left to make it 3-1 going into the final period.
“We let ourselves get out of control with our emotions there in the second, and we paid for it,” Roberts said. “At the same time, we can take positives out of the fact that we were able to recover from it and come back to get the point.”
The Jets still had to kill off almost four minutes of 5-on-3 play at the start of the third, then almost instantly got the momentum moving in their direction when Clougherty scored his first goal with 11:50 to go in the game. Lynn kept pushing the pace from that point on, outshooting the Big Blue 17-3 overall in the third. The Jets were also able to draw three Swampscott penalties in the frame, finally cashing in with just over four minutes remaining when Clougherty netted his second goal. Lynn earned one final power play over the final two minutes of the game, but it couldn’t capitalize.
Now at 5-4-5 on the year, there’s a bit of urgency starting to creep into the Big Blue locker room as they push to make the state tournament. Swampscott needs five points with six games to go on the schedule.
“We’ve got to start winning some games, because it’s getting down to the wire here,” said Faia. “We’ve just got to go out and play three consistent periods. When we do that, we’re fine. Our inconsistency kills us at times.”
The Big Blue travel to Somerville Saturday.
Lynn (6-4-2) is in a similar boat, needing six more points with eight games to go.
“It’s a bit of a crunch, but our guys have been fighting hard all year and they don’t quit,” said Roberts. “We’ve just got to move on from this one and come out and play a better game next time.”
The Jets visit Everett Saturday.
