Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the John A. Ryan Arena, with Watertown/Wayland Raiders Hockey in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, one and all were treated to an excellent hockey game. Watertown/Wayland was faced with the challenge of trying to end the losing streak against the Winchester Red & Black, ranked 14th in the Boston Globe Top 20 as of last week and fresh off a big win at Belmont.
On top of that, Watertown/Wayland was facing an excellent goalie, Senior Macklin O’Flynn, the 6’3″, 190 pound lefty. And aside from a seven goal shellacking at the hands of top-3 Hingham a few weeks back, Winchester had given up only 12 goals in 8 games. On this afternoon, though, the Raiders gave a great effort and deserved a better fate than a 3-2 defeat.
The first period highlighted the fact that the Raiders top line of Center Lukas Wynn and Forwards Luke Egan and Griffin Wood can play with anyone. These three are tired young men at the end of most games, as their ice time is double or more than the other two lines combined. And after a Winchester goal by Leo Dagostino gave the Red & Black a 1-0 lead, the Raiders top line line came through seven minutes later to tie it at one. Griffin Wood, positioned perfectly to the right of goalie O’Flynn, knocked home a rebound created by some nifty play from Luke Egan.
Recent home games have found the Raiders in a hole and trailing by two or three goals after one period, so the 1-1 score was refreshing and certainly must have given the Raiders some confidence going into the second period. And look, you don’t get awarded a goal for simply winning the period, but Watertown/Wayland was the better team in period number two, and even had the better scoring chances.
The only penalty of the game was called in the second, a two minute roughing call (can you say cheap shot?) administered by Winchester’s Caiden Brady on Lukas Wynn. Wynn had trouble getting up and after being examined by the trainer had to be helped off the ice by two of his teammates as he couldn’t put weight on his right leg. Watertown executed a solid power play which included a few testers on O’Flynn, but they couldn’t score. More importantly, though, what looked like perhaps a serious injury to first-line forward Wynn was miraculously not, as he started the third period between his first-line mates Egan and Wood.
The third period started pretty evenly with the score still knotted at 1, but senior Axel Osborn changed that when he hammered home a third rebound attempt top-shelf over a beleaguered Raiders goalie Findlay MacDonald. It should be noted that MacDonald was once again excellent in net, and made three excellent saves at close range in this exchange, but no one was able to clear the rebound and Osborn’s special shot made it 2-1 Winchester three minutes into the third. A little over three minutes later Caiden Brady made it 3-1, and thoughts of a magical third period, a first win in a month and an upset of a ranked opponent seemed to have faded faster than a Drake May strike into the end zone for a touchdown. But, oh, thee of little faith.
On this day the Raiders had a response. A team that had scored only 16 goals in 11 games leading into today, made it 3-2 just over a minute later thanks to the first line once again. Luke Egan got the goal, with assists from his linemates Wood and Wynn. All three deserve a start of the game! So, with 8 minutes gone and only 7 remaining, could Watertown/Wayland come up with the equalizer and send this game to overtime? The Raiders had a few chances, but just missed. At the other end, MacDonald kept it a one-goal game with some big saves. With just under a minute remaining the Raiders were able to take possession and send it into the Winchester zone.
MacDonald left for an extra skater, and the Raiders tried their best to pressure. The Red & Black iced the puck a few times trying to hit the empty net, and a few face off wins off those icings allowed the Raiders to try and set up to move the puck around and create an opening. But with 2.6 seconds left, and after one last face-off win, and the puck on the backhand of Liam Tourville, a shot sent just wide was immediately followed by the horn to signal the end of the period- and the game. Winchester held on for a 3-2 win and moves to 6-4 on the season.
Watertown/Wayland is now 1-10 and it doesn’t get any easier as Arlington, ranked 6th currently in the Boston Globe Top 20, visit the JAR on Saturday. Moral victories are just that, not nearly as satisfying as winning the game, but those dressed in a Watertown/Wayland uniform on this Wednesday should be very proud of their effort. They gave their all and they played to a high level, and they played toe-to-toe with the bigger and stronger and faster-skating Winchester squad, and they came oh-so-close to pulling off the upset.
Let’s hope Watertown/Wayland again brings their A-game on Saturday, because it’s an entertaining and competitive version, and it will be needed against an Arlington team that has given up only 11 goals all season.
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1 2 3 – F
Winchester 1 0 2 – 3
Watertown 1 0 1 – 2
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Scoring Summary
1st Period
Watertown/Wayland 0 Winchester 1… Dagostino from Osborn & Vaccari @ 4:05
Watertown/Wayland 1 Winchester 1… Griffin Wood from Luke Egan and Kingston Omolade @ 11:30
2nd Period
NO SCORING
Penalty, Winchester… Brady, Roughing @ 11:34
3rd Period
Watertown/Wayland 1 Winchester 2… Osborn from Dagostino & Krogmeier @ 3:20
Watertown/Wayland 1 Winchester 3… Brady from Krogmeier & Wright @ 6:40
Watertown/Wayland 2 Winchester 3… Luke Egan from Griffin Wood & Lukas Wynn @ 7:56
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Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, January 24 versus Arlington at John A. Ryan Arena, 4:20 p.m.
Wednesday, January 28 versus Lexington at John A. Ryan Arena, 4 p.m.
Saturday, January 31 versus Burlington at John A. Ryan Arena, 4:20 p.m.
Wednesday, February 4 versus Wilmington at John A. Ryan Arena, 5:45 p.m.
Saturday, February 7 @ Stoneham, 4 p.m.