In a penalty-ridden affair at McVann-O’Keefe Skating Rink, the Peabody/Saugus/Swampscott boys hockey team (4-4-1) nonetheless found the back of the net early and often en route to a 9-1 win against visiting Everett/Revere/Malden/Mystic Valley (4-6).
Seven Tanners scored goals, including sophomore Mason Laine, who netted his first career goal. Another six players notched assists.
John Morello had a big game with two goals and two assists. Artie O’Leary had two goals and an assist. Matvey Stupnikov (goal, 2 assists), Matthew Scopa (goal, 2 assists), and Mason Palladino (2 assists) also recorded multiple-point games.
“That really shows our depth — without a doubt,” said coach Donnie Shaw. “I wanted to get more of our guys out early, but the penalties hurt us. That killed us today. It was much better in the third period. I wanted to showcase everyone today. A lot of guys who don’t see as many minutes in more competitive games got their chance today to see quality minutes.”
Everett coach Craig Richards said it was another “learning experience, like every other game.”
Peabody led 2-0 after the first period with goals from O’Leary at the 11:15 mark and Brandon Barone with about three minutes remaining. Morello set up both.
Stupnikov needed just 18 seconds in the second period to convert on a power play to bump the Tanners’ lead to 3-0.
With 8:17 to go, Peabody was flagged two minutes for holding and an additional five for a hit to the head, forcing the Tanners to kill nearly the rest of the period a man down. It went from bad to worse when another Tanner committed another penalty, giving Everett a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes.
With six seconds left on the two-man advantage, Everett’s Frankie Annanziata swooped in from the left and drilled a wrist shot into the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1 with a little more than three minutes remaining in the period.
Less than a minute later, Everett’s Cam Malone tucked home a loose puck in the crease, but the goal was disallowed. Peabody took full advantage of its good fortune, when Morello (from Stupnikov) scored a short-handed goal about a minute later to give Peabody an added boost.
Richards felt the disallowed goal was a huge factor in the game’s outcome.
“They (referees) said the net was off, but it wasn’t. It was a game-changer,” he said. “It would have been 3-2 at that point, but they called the goal back and about a minute later, [Peabody] came back and scored and instead of 3-2, it’s 4-1. That was a killer.”
Peabody put the game out of reach with five goals in the third period, courtesy of Scopa (from Palladino), Morello (from Stupnikov), Demetri Breton (from Nick Morabito), Laine (from Palladino and Scopa) and finally, O’Leary (from Cam Hanifan and Ryan Lockhart).
Richards highlighted the play of Everett goaltender Ray Blauvelt (35 saves), as well as Bradley Roach.
“Our goalie played great. He made a lot of big saves,” Richards said. “Bradley, on defense, also played well.”
Shaw liked what he saw from goalie Evan Tybinkowski (25 saves).
“He played great today,” Shaw said.
Peabody returns to the ice in Gloucester Wednesday. Puck-drop is set for 6 p.m. with results too late to print.
“Gloucester is always a tough team, especially when they’re at home,” Shaw said. “I like our chances if we play like we did today and bring that kind of energy.”
Everett’s next game is against East Boston Wednesday at 7 p.m. with results too late to print.
“We played them in a Christmas tournament earlier and we beat them. We played really well in that game,” Richards said.
