A GOOD THING

PALMER — Ivan Good showed a little different look when he skated onto the ice Friday night.

Rather than sporting his usual No. 49, Good donned the No. 15 in a moment of anonymity.

But it wasn’t long before Colony figured out who No. 15 was, and in the second period, Good wasn’t fooling anyone.

The Palmer sophomore standout scored a goal and set up two others during the final six minutes of the second period to lead the Moose to a 3-1 win over the Colony Knights at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Friday.

“We had a lot of opportunities,” Good said. “We were all working hard, and it paid off.”

Good assisted on a shorthanded tally, netted the game-winning goal and set up another score during the final seconds of the second period to help the Moose improve to 6-0 in North Star Conference Play.

“It was a good win,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said. “Early on we played really well. We had a lot of quality chances in the first period, and in the second period we were able to cash in on some stuff.”

Palmer senior Will Rauchenstein recorded 38 saves as Palmer improved to 2-0 against the Knights during the regular season.

Colony senior Lance Nezaticky scored the lone goal for CHS, while sophomore Forrest Savel recorded 36 saves for the Knights.

Colony dropped to 2-4 in the region.

Palmer kept consistent pressure on the Savel, outshooting the Knights during the first two periods of play.

“They played a real solid game,” Colony head coach Fred McKenney said of the Moose. “They’re a well-coached team. They hustled all the time.”

The Moose were able to maintain possession during the first period, thanks to Palmer’s work in the neutral and offensive zones.

“The fore checking in the first period was very good,” Hanson said. “We kept the puck deep and got after it.”

Peirs LaFrance, the anchor of Palmer’s second line, used his speed to set up the odd-man rush and create scoring chances. In the second period, Good helped Palmer put three scores on the board during the final 5:19 of the period.

Late in the second, with Colony skating on the first power-play chance of the game for either team, Moose defenseman Thomas Morino picked up the puck and pushed it forward. Good grabbed it at the blue line of the Palmer defensive zone and sped forward to create the 2-on-1 shorthanded rush.

With Stephen Acher trailing, Good sent the puck across the zone to his linemate, and Acher buried the shot in the Colony net at the 5:19 mark.

“That was big,” Good said. “That’s where our momentum came from.”

Both coaches also believed that shorthanded tally was a pivotal point in the game.

“That hurt us,” McKenney said.

Less than two minutes later, Good once again wheeled the puck into the offensive zone and sent a quick wrist shot past Savel.

With less than 10 seconds left in the period, the teams set up for a draw in the left circle of the Colony defensive zone. Good won the face-off and put a quick shot on net. He grabbed his own rebound, circled to the back of the net and sent a centering pass to Mitchell Rissew, who stood wide open on the left side of the Colony net. Rissew put a quick shot in the upper shelf of the far side of the net to give the Moose the three-goal lead.

“I thought that was a great play,” Hanson said.

Savel allowed three goals in the game, but McKenney said his sophomore netminder kept the Knights in the contest.

“He had a good outing,” McKenney said. “If your goalie is 90 percent plus (saves percentage), then you’re in the ball game.”

Savel finished with a .923 saves percentage in the loss.

Rauchenstein saw the bulk of the Colony shots during the final period. Despite the increased pressure on the Moose net, the senior goaltender was able to keep Colony off the scoreboard until Nezaticky wrapped around the back of the Palmer goal and slipped a puck in with 21 seconds left in the game.

“We picked up the pace, but he’s a very good goalie,” McKenney said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.