Late surge lifts Berlin hockey over Souhegan

NASHUA – The Berlin High School boys hockey team got everything it could have asked for Wednesday night at Conway Arena.

The Mountaineers got a highly-contested game from Souhegan. Connor Jewett scored three goals and assisted on two others. And Berlin’s penalty kill was perfect, including a span of almost six minutes in the second and third period when the Sabers had man-advantage.

But the biggest was a 6-3 victory in its regular-season finale, meaning Berlin finished its first season in Division III at 18-0. Now the Mountaineers will wait for the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin on March 2.

“Souhegan was a great opponent for us going into the playoffs,” Berlin coach Mike Poulin said. “This was our last game, unfortunately, I wish it would have been Saturday. It’s a great tune up and it’s a team we could very possibly meet again.”

It would be a great playoff matchup. The teams played a 4-3 game at Berlin earlier in the season, and Wednesday’s game was tied at 3 with 4:05 left in the game when Jewett scored the game-winner.

That started the Mountaineers on a three-goal surge, as Trevor Laborgne scored less than two minutes later, and Jewett added his third of the game with 1:36 to play.

“That’s why he’s a special player,” Poulin said of Jewett. He kills penalties, he moves the puck on the power play, he had two great assists to Justin Vien.”

Vien also had two goals for Berlin, both off assists from Jewett.

Souhegan (11-5) got 31 saves from goalie Ryan Peterson and a hat trick from freshman Joe Nutting, the first of which put the Sabers up 1-0 just 2:24 into the game.

“It gave us a lot of confidence at the beginning of the game, that’s for sure,” Souhegan coach Dan Belliveau said. “We were taking this game one shift at a time, but getting on the board fast against these guys was pretty nice.”

But the Sabers wouldn’t keep the lead, as Vien’s first goal tied the game with 1:16 left in the opening period. Nutting put Souhegan back on top, burying a rebound with 6:41 to go in the second, but Berlin scored twice in the next minute, getting goals from Jewett and Vien, to take a 3-2 lead.

A minute later, Nutting scored his third of the game to tie it at 3, and the Sabers appeared to have the chance to take the lead late in the second.

Leborgne was called for a double minor, giving Souhegan a four-minute power play, but the Sabers struggled to get anything going, thanks to Jewett.

The junior continuously put pressure on Souhegan and kept the Sabers from getting anything going, until he took a penalty late in the period, giving Souhegan a 25-second five-on-three.

But the Sabers couldn’t take advantage of that power play either, or another one early in the third. Brendan Dix hit the cross bar with a shot, but that was as close as Souhegan would come to retaking the lead.

“Back-breaker,” Poulin said. “I put my freshman out there, Justin Vien, he’s a tenacious forechecker and he plays really well on the defensive side of the puck when you give him that job. He’s good at the faceoffs as well. He did a good job just playing within his means. That was a big kill for us.”

And it was a big blow to the Sabers. While Berlin had the division’s top seed locked up no matter the outcome, the loss drops Souhegan into fourth in the division with two games still to play. If the Sabers were to lose both – Friday against Moultonborough/Inter-Lakes, Saturday at Belmont-Gilford – they could slip to fifth and miss out on a home playoff game.

But even after Wednesday’s loss, the Sabers were feeling good about their chances.

“We were in that game the whole time,” Belliveau said. “If you flip a coin so many times …”