Bedford hockey pulls away in third to beat Manchester Central
GOFFSTOWN – Griffin Gagne scored two goals and had an assist and the Bedford High School boys hockey team scored four goals in the third period Saturday on the way to a 6-1 win over Manchester Central.
GOFFSTOWN – Griffin Gagne scored two goals and had an assist and the Bedford High School boys hockey team scored four goals in the third period Saturday on the way to a 6-1 win over Manchester Central.
Asa Palker added a goal and an assist and Tyler Gamble and Matthew Musgrave had two helpers each as the Bulldogs (6-0) extended their in-division win streak to 34 games.
Bedford also got goals from Danato Tempesta, Jay Roberto and Kameron Blaisdell while Jacob Rioux, Brett Veilleux and Chase Vaillancourt had an assist apiece.
“Central came prepared for us (Saturday),” Bedford coach Marty Myers said. “I thought they matched us pretty much for the first two-and-a-half periods. We have to understand that every team that comes to play us certainly wants to beat us. I think that as the season goes on, it’s going to get harder. We did what we needed to do, but we certainly need to play better.”
The Little Green (1-3-1) got its lone goal from Jake Clark, off an assist from William Lyons, with 7:24 left in the second period. That made it a 2-1 game, but Central had opportunities to make it a different game.
Central kept the puck in Bedford’s zone for the opening minutes of the game, putting a couple of shots on goalie Alec Lindberg (13 saves). The Bulldogs were able to get the puck out and Palker scored on Bedford’s first shot of the game with 11:01 to go in the period.
“Instead of being down, being up 1-0, in that early stage of the game, is huge, especially with it being a 2-1 hockey game going into the third period,” Myers said. “Being up 1-0, over a turnover and a quick transition, it’s a boost to the entire team.”
Gagne added a power play goal with 57 seconds left in the period to put Bedford up 2-0 going into the first intermission.
Central’s Ian Low had a pair of chances in the second to change the game. Early in the second, with Bedford on the power play, the Little Green got a 2-on-1 opportunity, but Low’s shot hit off the post.
After Clark had scored to cut the lead to one, Low had another breakaway chance, but Lindberg made a tough glove save to keep Bedford in front.
The Bulldogs made it a 3-1 game when Tempesta scored after a scramble in front of Central goalie Mathieu Cislak (25 saves). Bedford tacked on three goals in a span of 2:09 at the end of the period to put the game out of reach.
“Give Central credit, they rose to the occasion,” Myers said. “They’re a much better team than their record shows and they played a solid game. The last couple of minutes might have been a little different, but they played us tough. This was our toughest game of the year. They stepped up for sure.”
