EH Hockey Tops Branford In OT Thriller

The East Haven hockey team took on Branford at Patsy DiLungo Rink Saturday coming off . The game offered East Haven a chance to pick up their fourth straight win. This week's contest certainly gave fans entertainment worth the price of admission. But exciting as it may have been, it was neither team’s best performance this season. 

The Hornets came out early on with a physical agenda that rattled the Easties.  The physical style of play was working for Branford until the Hornets began to rack up penalties. 

With 8:51 left in the first period, Branford’s Nick Blake took a double-minor penalty that put 4:00 on the penalty clock. East Haven’s Andrew Hamilton did not need much time to capitalize on the one-man advantage hitting the back of the net just 51 seconds later for a 1-0 lead.

Kevin Randall scored the only goal in the second period giving the YellowJackets a 2-0 lead going into the third period.    

The third period saw East Haven’s Hamilton score his second goal of the game to give the Easties a 3-0 lead. Branford’s Nick Blake scored a pair of goals to give the Hornets some third-period hope and closed the gap to 3-2 with just under five minutes left to play. 

Branford fans went wild when Tyler Imperato tied the score with 3:58 left in the game. Imperato found mere inches over Easties' goaltender Sam Gavigan’s left shoulder and made it count.

Penalties plagued both teams at the end of the game as East Haven’s Kevin Randall received a double minor with 3:53 left in the game. The Easties fought off the majority of that power play and with 16 seconds left in regulation, Branford went into the box. 

The penalties carried over into the overtime period where the Easties were again given a man advantage by that late Branford penalty. East Haven’s Tom Brunski scored the game winner with 6:47 left in OT giving the YellowJackets a 4-3 win.

While East Haven coach Lou Pane was pleased that the team came away with a win, he pointed out a weakness. 

“We got a couple of penalties that let Branford back into the game," said Pane. 

The coach also gave credit to Hornets sharp-shooter Blake.

“That kid Blake is a very, very skilled kid," said Pane. "He’s got a great shot."

Branford coach Adolph Brink was not as pleased with his teams’ outcome, mostly due to the penalties.

“Dumb penalties killed us," said Brink. "You can’t win when you're in the box. When we were five on five, I think we were the better team."

With the win East Haven improves to 8-3 while the loss drops Branford to 3-9. Branford will take on North Branford next Wednesday. East Haven will travel to play Wethersfield next Tuesday.