Brighton, Howell meet in hockey showdown — with broadcast link

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On Friday, the Howell and Brighton hockey teams took on a pair of Livonia schools,

Howell tied Churchill 4-4 while Brighton allowed three consecutive goals in the third period in a 3-2 loss to Stevenson.

With the preliminaries out of the way, now to tonight’s main course, when the Bulldogs and Highlanders meet for the only time in the regular season in a 6 p.m. game at the Kensington Valley Ice House.

The game will be broadcast starting at 5:50 p.m. on The Livingston Post. Click here for the link.

“These are some big points,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said, referring to both weekend games. But the Brighton native also is well aware of the outsized expectations both playing at home and playing Howell can sometimes bring.

“The kids have all grown up together,” Kivisto said. “A lot of them played together growing up. They know each other, so it’s always a big game when you play Howell.”

Emotions are a part of the rivalry, Howell coach Rocky Johnson says, but it’s a factor both teams will have to deal with.

“The emotions do run kind of crazy at times,” he said, “but you need to keep them in check in order to use them to your advantage.”

Playing two nights in a row isn’t expected to be a factor.

‘The boys are ready,” Johnson said. “They’re young and hungry and will be ready to go. Brighton was playing on Friday, so we’ll have a level playing field, other than being in their home arena.”

Kivisto, meanwhile, doesn’t see having home as, necessarily, an advantage.

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad,” he s aid. “Sometimes our guys get a little bit too emotional in front of the home crowd. But there’s value in being at home. You get the last change, so you can manage matchups a little bit. But it’s not always good if you can’t manage the emotion f he game. That’s going to be key, handling the emotion. It’s going to be important for both teams.”

Both teams are coming off games where their opponents scored three times in the third period on Friday night. An expected large crowd will be looking for more tonight.

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