David Grant Live Game Blog

Third Period

Final Score: Holyoke 6 Taconic 3

End of game: The Holyoke Purple Knights prevailed here in Springfield. The fans went crazy as Houle cleared his bench. For all intents and purposes the Knights dominated the final two periods of action.

4:00 left: Goff came up big again as the goaltender from Granby stopped a few shots in front. Taconic is now o-for-7 on the power play and they trail by four goals here. It’s pretty safe to say the Knights will be back here on Thursday playing for a state championship.

9:00 left: Time is running out on Taconic here. The Braves are outmatched here by a solid Holyoke team with depth and skill. The score continues to be 6-2 here. Holyoke has 25 shots on goal to Taconic’s 14.

12:49: Blais has scored here in the early going to give the Knights a 6-2 lead. After the Knights killed off the penalty Lenihan raced down the right side uncontested. He got twisted a bit but Blais picked up the puck behind the net and stuck it in the open net. Spencer Nawrocki assisted.

A warm reception for the Knights by the student section here. What a thrill it must be for players, coaches and fans to play for a championship on a big stage.

Taconic has 1:28 left on a power play and an early goal for the Braves may change the complexity of this high-profile game here at Mass Mutal Center.

Second Period

Scoring recap: B. Menard from Pinciak (H) and Lenihan from Blais (H). Blais has a goal and two assists while Lenihan has two goals. Pinciak has two assists.

Analysis: Holyoke made a concerted effort to put the body on Murphy and Gilardi, the two dangerous goal scorers for the Braves. While the Braves will enter the third on its sixth power play, the Knights did a good job of containing the pair while Goff made timely saves.

Holyoke also has been known for its depth and John Houle looks to continue to wear down Taconic in the third period with a three goal lead. The Knights are 15 minutes away from reaching the Division 3A championship this Thursday back here in Springfield.

End of Period: Holyoke is outshooting the Braves 21-13 here. They held Taconic to just six in a game changing second period. Holyoke scored two goals and will enter the third period with a comfortable 5-2 lead here at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

Kevin Murphy took a big hit and is now on the bench. Taconic is now 0-for-5 with the man advantage as the Knights look to wrap up what turned out to be a dominating period.

2:24: The Knights still hold a 5-2 lead here and it could be worse for Taconic. The Braves have been thoroughly outplayed here in the second period.

6:29 left: The Braves successfuly killed off the two penalties but the Knights have struck again here and now lead 5-2 midway through the second period. Lenihan scored from Blais. The Braves only have three shots on goal in the period and Goff made a tremendous stop on a short handed bid by Broderick. 

8:45 left: The Braves are now o-for-4 with the man advantage and to make matters worse they picked up a penalty at with 11 seconds left on the power play. Bolotin seems to be finding a groove though as the Knights try and convert. Now the Knights will have a 5-on-3 here for 56 seconds.

Taconic is going on its fourth power play (0-for-3)  and they desperately need a conversion.

10:36 left: Bolotin just made a huge stop on Pinciak, who snuck in front for a point blank shot. The Knights are applying a ton of pressure here.

13:06 left: Action resumed and Holyoke won a face off and the puck made its way around to Ben Menard. Menard, from a seemingly impossible angle, fired a wrist shot into the upper right hand corner for a 4-2 lead. Pinciak earned the assist.

13:15: We have a Taconic player down as the Knights still lead 3-2 here. Both teams have made adjustments and the chances have been limited in the early going of the second period.

Analysis: Holyoke came out flying offensively, scoring three goals in the first period here. But the Knights need to toughen up defensively if they are to continue to hold and build the lead. Holyoke has no problem scoring but with Murphy and Gilardi constantly attacking the net, the Knights can ill afford to go to sleep in the back.

Taconic has scored two goals on seven shots, both of them coming off fine plays in front of Goff. Meanwhile, Bolotin has to be thinking about surrendering three first period goals after a dominating performance in the semifinals versus Belchertown.

We’ll be back with second period action from the Mass Mutual Center shortly.

First Period

End of First: What a wild first period. Goff made the save of the game on Broderick with 11 seconds left as Taconic ended the period on its third power play. Holyoke leads 3-2 after one period. The Knights have 11 shots and the Braves only have seven. Here is the scoring recap:

Lenihan from Blais (H), Blais from Bakos (H), Gilardi from Murphy (T), Bailly from Pinciak and Stefanik (H) and Gilardi from Broderick and Murphy (T) 

2:42: The Braves have cut the lead to 3-2 just after the power play ended. The took a loose puck in the zone and it went across the crease where Gilardi was there for an easy tip in. Goff had no chance. Murphy and Danny Broderick earned the assists.

4:15 left: Taconic has  a power play chance here. Can the Braves cut into the lead. They are 0-for-1 thus far with the man advantage. The Knights are 0-for-2.

6:27 left: Holyoke has a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal and holds a 3-1 lead here. The Knights’ offense has been proficient to say the least. And head coach John Houle deserves credit for going with Lenihan and Blais as starters. They have come out on fire here.

8:36 left: Holyoke will go on the power play with a 3-1 lead.

10:37 left: Holyoke is now in front 3-1 as the Knights’ first three shots have all been goals. This one came 19 seconds after the Braves cut the lead in half. Jake Bailly scored while Derek Pinciak and Kevin Stefanik with the assists. Taconic is on the power play

10:56 left: Taconic has struck back. The prolific tandem of Murphy and Gilardi has cut the Holyoke lead to 2-1. The goal came off a 2-on-1 and Gilardi put it home.

12:08 left: Blais has just given the Knights a 2-0 lead. Blais went around a defender off the left wing and fooled Bolotin, going in front and lifting a back hander into the net. Mike Bakos earned the assist for the pass that propelled Blais into the zone.

12:56: Still 1-0 Knights. Taconic’s Kevin Murphy had a solid chance but Goff was able to save it and force a face-off. It’s somewhat testy out there right now.

The Knights have scored here just seven seconds into the game. Nick Blais took the face off down the right wing and centered it where linemate and co captain Pat Lenihan stuck it past Bolotin. Considering the goalies’ perforance versus Belchertown this is pretty huge. 1-0 Holyoke

Big crowd on hand here, a lot of Purple and White representing the Holyoke team, which includes players from South Hadley and Granby. We are getting set to face off here at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

Starters:

Taconic:  Chris Bolotin (G), Matt Gilardi (C), Kevin Murphy (lW), Mitchell Candelot (F) and Thomas Gilardi (D) and Alex Sawicki (D)

Holyoke: Tad Goff (G), Ned DiLisio (D), Brendan Aluxek (D) Spencer Nawrocki (LW), Pat Lenihan (C), Nick Blais (RW)

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Good evening everyone and thanks for tuning into today’s blogcast of the Western Massachusetts Division 3A final between top-seeded Taconic and your Holyoke Purple Knights. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. between the 20-1 Braves and the sixth-seeded Knights.

Holyoke is making its first appearance in a championship game since winning the state title in 1979 as a Division1 school. The Knights defeated Agawam 5-3 and Chicopee 6-4 to reach the finals here at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

Check back around 5:45 p.m. for a look at this important game here. The winner advances to the Division 3A state championship on Thursday right back here in Springfield against the Central Mass. champion, either Fitchburg or Oakmont.