It was a physical, and at times straight up nasty hockey game at the Nantucket Community Rink Wednesday night. In a game where there were a combined 16 penalties, the Whaler boys hockey team came out on top with a 4-1 win over the St. John Paul II Lions. They improved their record to 4-4 on the season.
“I thought we had a good effort,” head coach Scott Corbett said. “I thought we put together 45 minutes of good effort hockey out there today. We are still passing up clean shots and trying to make too many passes. I don’t know why we are doing it but we seem to keep doing it. We also need to hit the net a little bit more. But all in all this is a good game for us. They are fired up right now.”
Camden Knapp and Jack Billings each scored two goals for Nantucket. Billings got the scoring started for the Whalers after he was able to gain control of a loose puck in front of the Lion’s goalie and back hand it into the net. The goal gave Nantucket a 1-0 lead with 6:18 to go in the first period.
Less than three minutes later Knapp doubled the Whaler’s lead. He set himself up by the left faceoff circle on the power play and senior captain Hudson Perry dished him the puck. Knapp then slapped a pass into the middle of the ice near the Lion’s crease and the puck found its way into the net off a deflection with 3:48 to go in the opening period to make it 2-0.
There were no goals in the second period, but the physicality didn’t let up. Corbett said he liked the way his team handled the physicality, saying he felt like they fought back hit for hit in a clean way and without crossing the line.
“It got really chippy and they stood up for one another,” Corbett said. “They have a good goalie and he keeps them in games. He is their best player. This is a great game to help us get our swag back. We are going to need to play mistake free hockey this weekend against Bishop Stang and Norwell though.”
The Whalers were able to secure a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the third period. Billings found himself with the puck along the half-wall by the left face-off circle. He found Knapp with some open space and Knapp was able to take the pass and lift it over the Lion’s goalie to give Nantucket a 3-0 lead with 10:57 to go in the final period.
The Whalers were able to clamp down defensively despite a late third period goal by the Lions with under two minutes to go in the game. Billings would seal the deal with an empty net goal with 1:05 to go in the game to make it 4-1.
Corbett said he couldn’t be more proud of senior captain Hudson Perry, who has been playing defense the past couple of games due to a lack of numbers in the Whaler’s back end due to injuries. Perry had been the Whaler’s top center this season until the injuries began to pile up.
Senior sniper Cole Evens left the game with a shoulder injury, but told Corbett it felt pretty good and appeared to be in good spirits when speaking to the Current between periods. Corbett is hopeful Evens can be back on the ice soon, emphasizing his importance to the team and the talent Evens’ possesses. But Corbett made it clear that Evens’ health comes before anything.
“I’m very happy overall,” Corbett said. “We forechecked well. They followed the X’s and O’s well. We just have to work on this power play. Sometimes it looks amazing but then other times it is flat. We have to clean that up but we will.”
Shots were 43-17 Nantucket, per Nantucket Sports Connection.
The Whalers will travel to take on 6-0 Bishop Stang on Saturday at 2 p.m. Then they have another tough matchup on Sunday when they host the 7-1 Norwell Clippers at 2 p.m. Norwell has outscored their opponents 50-10 so far this season.
