EASTHAMPTON — With the clock winding down in the third period and the score tied 3-3, Wednesday’s game between Greenfield and Easthampton seemed destined for overtime.
Matt Lavoine stepped up for the Green Wave with 20 seconds left on the clock, beating two Easthampton defenders and shoveling a backhander past Eagles goalie Paige Galpin to give the Green Wave their eighth win of the season at Lossone Rink.
“We took the first 15 [minutes], they took the second 15 and I’d say for about 14 minutes and 40 seconds it was very even in that third period,” Greenfield head coach Adam Bouchard said. “We were very lucky to have one of our senior captains Matthew Lavoine pick that puck up and show why he’s one of our leaders and he was able to finish.”
There was a lot of tension as the minutes ticked down in the third; Easthampton’s Mikey Thompson took a late cross checking penalty that the Eagles eventually killed off. When a Greenfield player swung his stick at an Eagles player a few seconds later, no call was made, and Lavoine scored the game-winner a few moments after.
“They battled hard, hard, hard all game long. You don’t want to complain about refs, but we weren’t given a fair shake tonight I think by them. But whatever, we learned, we move on as a team,” Easthampton coach Tim Pfau said. “I’m proud of them. So it is what it is.”
Easthampton scored first when Ethan Marowitz fired a shot from the high slot. It bounced off Greenfield goaltender Joshua Bordeaux and Thompson was there to clean up the rebound two minutes into the contest.
Greenfield answered back just over two minutes later when Hunter Smith skated the puck into Greenfield’s offensive zone. His shot tipped off an Easthampton player’s skate and went into the net to tie the game up.
The Green Wave (8-3 overall, 4-1 Wright Division) took their first lead of the game three minutes later when Lavoine put the puck past Galpin off a face-off play, assisted by Brody Gagne and Jamison Baleno.
Gagne got a goal of his own just a few minutes later to make it 3-1 at the end of the first frame.
Pfau went into the first intermission with a clear message to his team: clean up their defensive play.
“We were too passive. We’re just letting them dictate the pace of play. No, we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to start playing hockey,” Pfau said. “Take the body, take away passing and shooting lanes and don’t let them walk all over us. That was the message.”
Easthampton got to work after the first intermission; Marowitz carried the puck in over the blue line and let loose a snipe that beat Bordeaux to pull the Eagles within one just over two minutes into the period.
Thompson went on hat trick watch with the game-tying goal, cleaning up a rebound from Zack Roy’s initial shot to tie the game. Galpin made several key saves late in the period to keep the game tied heading into the final period.
“He’s a power forward, that’s what he does,” Pfau said on Thompson. “Drive the net, get to that net, rebounds and he puts two [goals] in.”
The third period was neck-and-neck, with Easthampton’s defense making smart plays while Greenfield’s offense tried to solve Galpin. Greenfield’s offense peppered Galpin all night long, especially in the third; the visitors outshot the Eagles 11-1 in the final period. Galpin finished with 39 saves for the Eagles.
“We’ve had a lot of shots this season in every game. In the first probably five games this season, we couldn’t bury the puck, we were only scoring two goals a game,” Lavoine said. “The last couple games we’ve been scoring a lot more, shooting where the goalie’s not and hitting the net, not the glass.”
The Eagles (7-4, 4-4) took a late penalty but picked up some momentum with a strong penalty kill. It looked like the game was destined for overtime, but Lavoine sent the game-winner into the net with 20 seconds to go.