BRIGHTON — Hockey coaches talk about the value of what they call “puck luck,” and the reasons were on display Wednesday night at the Kensington Valley Ice House.
Brighton scored a goal on a turnover, a deflection and the power play, and made those scores stand up in a 3-1 win over Howell in a Division 1 pre-regional final.
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The Bulldogs (19-8) advance to Saturday’s regional final at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which routed Waterford 9-1 on Wednesday.
“You have to have those kind of goals,” Brighton coach Paul Moggach said. “Howell came out strong. I thought they played a great game and showed a lot of heart.”
The first came when Keith Wikman stole the puck from Howell defenseman Nick Toth a few feet in front of the Howell net and fired a shot past Howell goalie Nate George before George could react.
The goal gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with 10:07 left in the first period.
“It was a mind lapse,” Howell coach Mike Mantua said. “It’s not characteristic of one of the top defensemen in the league. It happens.”
The Highlanders got a lift soon afterward at 8:52, when Max DiCicco beat Brighton goalie Logan Neaton with a bad-angle goal.
“The puck was dumped into the corner and I just threw it at the net,” DiCicco said. “It got a lucky bounce and went in.”
Brighton took the lead for good a little over a minute later. Jake Crespi blazed into the Howell zone and sent the puck forward to Lee Pietila.
“It went off my skate, then my stick and it went five-hole (between the legs),” Pietila said of the goal with 7:38 remaining in the first period.
The Highlanders protested that Pietila was offside on the play, to no avail.
The score stayed that way until late in the second period, when Brad Halonen scored on a power play with 4:32 left.
“That was huge,” Pietila said. “It put them away. They were on their heels.”
Perhaps, but the Highlanders kept battling.
“We were getting chances,” Mantua said. “But we weren’t able to put it in the back of the net.”
“I think the next goal would have been important, either way,” Moggach said of the goal that never came. “We had a lot of pressure on them and we almost got that fourth goal. It was up and down (in the third), and they had some time in our end.”
“It was a well-fought game,” DiCicco said. “Both teams had good chances, but they capitalized more. We couldn’t finish our chances.”
Pietila said it also was a game befitting ancient rivals.
“It’s all on the line,” he said. “There were some dirty plays. It reminds me of playing up north in Calumet. It’s all or nothing, and it’s the playoffs. You lose and you’re done.”
The Bulldogs take on a St. Mary’s squad that finished 10-11-1 before rolling past Clarkston (9-0) and Waterford (9-1) in its pre-regional.
It’s the fifth regional final in a row for the Bulldogs, but Moggach admits he hasn’t gotten over the last one, a 1-0 loss to Plymouth Salem a year ago.
“I have a tough time getting that loss out of my mind,” he admitted. “We need to have a couple good days of practice. St. Mary’s will be tough and it’s at their home. It’s not going to be easy.”
Pietila is relishing the challenge and a couple more days of practice.
“All of us seniors are fighting to stay alive now,” he said .”We’re pumped to have practice (today). We know Howell isn’t lucky enough to have practice.”
