It had been nine days since the Cape Elizabeth hockey team last pulled on its game sweaters. Nine days since the Capers shutout Class B rival Greely to pull above .500.
So, sure, Coach Jason Tremblay was a little worried about how his team would react against Class A Portland on Monday. The Capers hit the ice four times during their midterm exam layoff, but it’s not easy to match the game day intensity during practice, and Tremblay knew that.
Plus, in the win over Greely, the Capers finally felt like they were playing up to their capabilities. How would the nine-day lay off affect their focus?
It wouldn’t. The Capers beat the Bulldogs, 2-0, to improve to 8-6.
“The first couple shifts it took us a little while to get back out there and get our legs back and get in shape,” said Cape senior forward Drake Livada. “But we’ve been sitting around, waiting to play. The focus was there because we’ve been wanting to play all week.”
The Capers jumped out to a 1-0 lead 12:41 into the first on a goal by junior Andrew Gibson. The play developed when senior forward Ryan Tremblay put a shot on from just inside the right faceoff dot.
Portland goalie Ray Quatrucci hugged the right post to make the save, but when the rebound kicked into the slot area he was out of position to make another. Gibson crashed in and whacked the puck past a diving Quatrucci.
Forty-five seconds into the second period, the Capers nearly added to the lead with a shorthanded bid. Senior forward Mike Kertes stripped Portland’s David Nealley of the puck at the Cape blue line and raced in on a 2-on-1 with linemate Kyle Dancause. But the ice was still wet from the Zamboni and Kertes’s pass over to Dancause was off the mark.
Still though, the shorthanded scoring chance was as good as any power-play chance that Portland was able to put together.
“We had our opportunities, but we weren’t moving it around,” said Portland coach Paul Evans, whose team was 0-for-4 with the man advantage. “We were getting outworked a little bit. We need to take better advantage of those situations.”
Part of the problem was Cape’s improved defensive zone coverage – during even-strength and shorthanded situations. The other part of the problem was the play of goalie Ryan Hatch.
“We’ve really worked hard defensively, going over defensive zone coverage and picking up loose guys coming back,” said Tremblay. “It’s not just the defensemen but the forwards also, and Ryan communicates well with the guys outside, so it’s coming along.
“He’s got his confidence back, and he’s starting to feel better, too, after his injury. I think he’s playing like he used to and that’s what we expect from him and that’s what he’s doing now.”
Hatch sprained his right knee earlier in the year. Every time he went into the butterfly position the injury was aggravated, and that wasn’t good because Hatch considers himself a butterfly-style goalie.
It’s safe to say now, though, that he’s put the injury behind him. Hatch hasn’t allowed a goal since the first period of a Jan. 19 win over Yarmouth, a span of 125 minutes and 11 seconds.
“When you go out there and you’re confident, knowing you’re going to save every shot, it makes it so much easier,” he said.
The Capers gave Hatch (16 saves) a cushion to sit on 5:54 into the second. Livada picked up a loose puck in the high slot after a deflection out of the right corner. He fired a wrister through traffic and over Quatrucci’s glove hand.
“Coach told us to go under the bar on the goalie, and I got my head up right before I shot it and saw the glove side was open, so I put it right under the bar,” he said. “It felt good.”
Hatch took over from there. He preserved his shutout with two big saves late in the third. The first came on a one-timer by Nealley from just outside the crease. The second came moments later. Nealley chopped at the puck off the faceoff and it deflected toward the left corner as Hatch was sliding to the right post. He reached back and batted it away with his blocker.
“We’ve won three big games in a row, and we’re clicking at the right time for our run into the playoffs,” said Livada.
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