The Essex Hornets are in a familiar spot as state champions in division one boy's hockey after a resounding 5-0 win over Spaulding at Gutterson Field House last night.
The second-seeded Hornets put up three goals in the first period and never let the 3rd seeded Crimson Tide into the game, insuring the 15th state title in school history. Essex got goals from five different players in the win, and Sam Foster made 17 saves to notch the shut-out.
In the division two final, the Woodtsock Wasps were trying to finish out a season without a loss and they did so in style, shutting out Lyndon 4-0 at the Gutt to win the D-2 championship. Cullen McCarthy scored the first goal for Woodstock, the only tally they would need on the night, finishing the year with a record of 22 wins, no losses, and only a 2-2 regular season tie against Colchester to prevent a perfect season.
Over at Barre Auditorium, the boy's division two basketball state title was decided with a brilliant battle between Fair Haven and Milton that came down to the wire after the Slaters built up a big lead only to see the Yellow Jackets roar back with a 13-0 run to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
Cam Coloutti had a game high 29 points but Ian Jennings was nearly as good for Milton, pouring in 27, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 47 with less than two minutes to go. But Coloutti scored Fair Haven's last seven points of the contest and the Slaters held on for a 59-57 victory that delivers the school's first state title in 16 years.
The division four boy's title is a first for Sharon, as the number two Phoenix defeated top-seeded Danville 60-56 at the Aud, completing a perfect 24-0 season to capture the first championship in school history.
Sam Knoerlein scored 26 points for Sharon and Fisher Kelly added 16 plus the basket that put the Phoenix up for good late in the second half.
To the NHL and with yet another member of the Boston Bruins unavailable due to injury, the Bruins called up a name familiar to long-time fans who remember when his dad used to roam the ice at the Garden.
Ted Donato's son Ryan made his NHL debut last night, filling in for veteran star Rick Nash, just the latest Bruin to be sidelined in what has become a kind of M*A*S*H unit of to-shelf players needing to nurse a variety of ailments, and Donato's first NHL tilt could only have gone better if the Bruins hadn't lost 5-4 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Donato scored his first NHL goal in the second period, blistering a one-timer into the net on a nice feed from Torey Krug, showing off the shot he's become known for as a stand-out at Harvard and more recently as the highest scoring player representing Team USA at the Olympics in South Korea. And Donato wasn't done, adding two assists on a night when scoring happened so fast you could miss two goals just getting distracted by the banners hanging in the rafters.
The Bruins trailed 1-0 before forging a 3-1 lead in the second on Donato's goal, another by Brad Marchand, and a strike by Riley Nash. Then things really got crazy as the Blue Jackets scored three straight, but just 25 seconds after grabbing a 4-3 lead, Donato sent a pass out into the crease for David Krejci, who squeezed one past Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo to tie the game again.
The Bruins probably shouldn't have had to go to overtime at all, given that one of Columbus' goals resulted when the refs blew an icing call, replays clearly showing that Columbus had iced the puck but the call was not made and seconds later the puck was behind Tuukka Rask, something coach Bruce Cassidy barked about on the bench after the goal to no avail.
And in the overtime period the Bruins were angered again when Brad Marchand was sent over the blue line on a partial breakaway and was practically mugged from behind by a Columbus defender, barely able to get a backhand on goal as a result. Marchand looked amazed that a penalty shot wasn't called for, or at the very least a holding or hooking penalty, and I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that if it had been any other player getting the business the way Marchand did something would have been called, but number 63's own reputation for less than noble stick work likely kept the ref's arm down, or perhaps the fact that this was a late season contest with playoff implications on the line for Columbus, none of which excuses the non-call.
In any event, Cam Atkinson ended the affair with an overtime game winner that extends the Blue Jackets winning streak to eight games and pulls them into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan division. The Bruins, meanwhile, pull to within one point of Tampa Bay for first place in the eastern conference and even with the loss the Bruins have to be encouraged by the debut of Ryan Donato. Now if they can just get healthy for the playoffs.
Elsewhere, the Florida Panthers are trying to get into the playoff picture and they inched closer last night with a 2-0 shut-out win over the Montreal Canadiens. The win moves the Panthers to within three points of New Jersey for one of two available wild card berths and Florida also has two games in hand over the Devils. Roberto Luongo made 28 saves to get his third shut-out of the season and 76th of his career.
Finally, in the NBA, LeBron James made history, becoming the third oldest player to score at least 40 points as part of a triple double, which King James pulled off last night with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and ten assists in Cleveland's win over Milwaukee. At age 33 LeBron pulled off the feat with only Elgin Baylor ahead of him, having done it at age 34, and a guy named Larry Bird, who recorded a triple double for the Boston Celtics at the age of 35.
