B1

By CHRIS FOX
For The Daily Gleaner

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For the second night in a row the second period was the difference for the Fredericton High School Black Kats in Western Conference Boys AAA hockey action.

This time, however, it was the difference in an FHS win, not a loss.

The Black Kats, who gave up four second period goals in a 6-2 home ice loss to the Leo Hayes Dairy Queen Lions on Wednesday, scored three times in the middle frame last night to blow a close game open and down the Oromocto High School Blues 6-3 at Kings Arrow Arena.

Ryan Murphy and David Thomas had two goals apiece while Ryan Meng and Luke Rankin added singles. Alex Warman, Mack Grasse and Warren Hickey responded for the Blues.

"Our second period was terrible yesterday," FHS co-coach Jeff Currie said, "but we tried to put that behind us tonight. We came out in the second with a goal in mind: to get lots of shots, keep the shots against us low and be better defensively. I think we did that.

"We weren't great in the first period defensively, but in the second we were a lot better." Playing a well-rested OHS team, seeing their first action in a week, the Kats got run ragged in the early going last night.

Just 1:19 in, Warman made it 1-0 when he scored on a fluke wraparound that looked more like an errant pass that fooled FHS goaltender Kyle MacNevin than anything else.

Josh Blanchard then nearly made it 2-0 on a hard shot in the slot minutes later, but MacNevin made a nice kick save.

Maybe they suddenly realized the 2-3 Blues were no slouches, or maybe they just recovered from their Leo Hayes-induced hangover, but the Kats were solid after that. When Kevin Elliot went to the box midway through the period, Meng stepped inside the blueline and fired a soft shot through traffic that somehow beat OHS goalie Kurt Billard cleanly.

The score remained tied for the rest of the period, but there was no doubting who was in control. Just 36 seconds into the second period Thomas got the puck off a faceoff and rang a point shot off the left post and in to give FHS a 2-1 lead.

Grasse would one-time a Blanchard pass into the back of the net seven minutes later to tie it, but it was too late. The Black Kats were on a roll and two minutes later Rankin reclaimed the lead for FHS when he beat Billard on a breakaway with a tricky backhander.

Four minutes later, Murphy picked off a down ice pass from Billard at the blueline and blasted the puck into the top right corner of the net to make it 4-2.

The Blues would get no closer.

"Last night was tough and we just wanted to rebound, so this was big," said Murphy, who had a staggering nine shots in the third period. "We really are starting to click as a team. It took a while, but the lines are coming together and everyone is starting to know where everyone is on the ice and that's a good sign."

"We knew they came off a tough loss," OHS assistant coach Jeff Murdock said. "We figured if we skated with them in the first period we'd be successful and we did that, but in between the first and second things got let down a little bit and they came storming back with three goals

"We have nothing to hold our heads down about," Murdock said, "but we definitely need to work on discipline."

With the win, FHS improved to 4-1 while OHS dropped to 2-4. The Black Kats are back in action tonight when they visit the Cité-des-Jeunes Republicans in Edmundston. The Blues don't play again until welcoming the Lions to Kings Arrow Arena on Dec 3.

The Lions raised their record to 6-1 with a 6-2 win over the Thomas Albert Elites of Grand Falls last night at Willie O'Ree Place.

Josh Cameron had a goal and two assists while Mike Benson scored a pair to lead the Lions. Brandon Ferris, Brady Oxford and Alex McTiernan also scored in support of winning goalie Andrew Mason. Simon Toner and Jeremy Ouellette replied for Thomas Albert, which was outshot 40-19. LHHS led 4-2 after the first period and 5-2 after the second.