Souhegan boys hockey beats Belmont-Gilford in overtime

NASHUA - Dan Belliveau knew he had some good young players when the Souhegan High School boys hockey team opened the season.

He had no idea how good those players could be. Freshmen Joe Nutting showed him how good on Saturday.

Nutting scored three goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to lead Souhegan to a 5-4 win over Belmont-Gilford at Conway Arena.

Ryan Peterson stopped 40 shots for the Sabers (9-3 in Division III) and Matt Wilson and Vincent Silvestri also scored, as Souhegan gave up a two-goal lead in the second period and had to rally in the third to force overtime.

"The kids had to dig deep (Saturday)," Belliveau said. "We've worked hard on conditioning over the last couple of weeks and a lot on the power play. Give credit (to Belmont-Gilford). They’re going to be there in the playoffs."

The conditioning work paid off for the Sabers, but not the work on the power play. Souhegan netted one goal with a man advantage, but failed to score on a five-on-three in the third period, and couldn't take advantage of two power plays in the fourth.

In fact, Nutting's game winner came with the Sabers down a man, with 2:14 left in the extra session.

"Their kid was coming out of the zone and I don’t think he saw me," Nutting said. "I kind of surprised him and made one move and took it in and finished."

It's the type of play Belliveau has come to expect.

"Joe Nutting is one of those uncommon freshman," he said. "We get them every once in a while at Souhegan. He’s one of those kids who can play at this level right away because he’s played at a higher level throughout his youth hockey experience. Did I know he was going to be first line? No, but he worked his way up and he earned it. It paid off (Saturday)."

Silvestri put the Sabers on top early, scoring off a centering pass from Wilson less than three minutes into the game. The Red Raiders (8-3) tied the game up, but Souhegan went ahead 2-1 on Nutting’s first goal with 4:49 left in the first and Wilson made it 3-1 early in the second.

The lead wouldn't hold, as B-G got goals from Caleb Drouin and Andrew D’Amour just 43 seconds apart in the second to tie the game at 3.

The Sabers seemed to get some momentum back in the third period, as B-G took back-to-back penalties to give Souhegan a five-on-three for 1:16. While Souhegan came close on a few chances, the Sabers came up empty.

"We couldn’t get it to the front of the net on the power play," Belliveau said. "We had a five-on-three were we probably could have been up a goal."

To make matters worse, Souhegan received two penalties with 7:57 left in the third, giving the Red Raiders a full two minutes with a two-man advantage. B-G got the go-ahead goal from Max Desmarais with 32 seconds left on the advantage to make it 4-3.

Souhegan was able to kill off the rest of the penalty, and 53 seconds after that, Nutting took the puck away from B-G's Daryll Cahill at the blue line and beat goalie Calvin Davis to tie the game.

The win was a big one for the Sabers. After a loss to Kennett on Wednesday, Souhegan needed to find a way to bounce back and stay within striking distance of the top four in the division standings.

"That was part of the whole shtick at practice Thursday and Friday after the game against Kennett," Belliveau said. "We wanted to make sure we bounced back. It’s all about momentum at this time of year. This where you’re kind of getting over that hump and you need this kind of game to bounce back from a loss the other night. They were focused on that."

Souhegan goes on the road Feb. 2 to face John Stark/Hopkinton, while B-G heads to Berlin on Jan. 30.