MUSKEGON – The good news is that the Reeths-Puffer hockey team can definitely go toe-to-toe with powerful Grandville, which the Rockets clearly demonstrated on Wednesday night.
And R-P's hopes for a division championship are far from dead, because the O-K Conference Fischer Division tournament is yet to come, and that will determine which team wins the title.
In the meantime, however, Grandville continues to have the upper hand after beating the Rockets 3-2 in a showdown between the two state-ranked powers on Wednesday at Muskegon's Trinity Health Arena.
The Bulldogs broke a 2-2 deadlock and scored the winning goal with just 57 seconds remaining in the game.
R-P's Tyler Tindall unleashes a shot. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Grandville, the fifth-ranked team in the state in Division 2, improved to 16-4 overall and 6-0 in division play. The Bulldogs will be the top seed in the division tournament.
The Rockets, ranked No. 8 in the state, dropped to 13-5-2 and 4-1-1 in division play.
R-P tied with Mona Shores for second place in the regular season standings and will be the second or third seed in the tournament, which begins on Feb. 5.
The bottom line is that there's a lot more hockey to play before any trophies are handed out.
R-P's Hunter Fritz keeps the puck away from an opponent. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“I think we’re in a great spot,” said R-P head coach Dustin Langlois about where his team stands before the conference tournament. “We had a tough January with a ton of games and good competition. We have some guys banged up, so the next couple of days we’ll have rest. It will do us some good, I think. But January was a grind, and the guys did a great job of playing through it.”
The loss ruined a great performance by Reeths-Puffer senior goalie Mark Stewart, who stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced.
“What an unreal performance,” Langlois said about Stewart. “He stopped just about everything that was coming to him. He kept his emotions in check and battled. He played very well all night.”
The Rockets got off to a slow start in the first period, when they were outshot 13-5.
R-P's Connor Anderson (3) moves the puck out of the corner. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The game remained scoreless headed into the second period, however, mostly because Stewart made some great saves, including a stop on a Grandville breakaway with 1:30 left in the first.
In the second period, a misplay near the R-P goal allowed Grandville to score and take a 1-0 lead at the 5:47 mark.
The Rockets responded at 14:07 when Bucky Aney hammered home a rebound to tie the game at 1-1.
With just 1:28 left in the period, Grandville scored and took a 2-1 lead headed in the third.
R-P's Eli Cuti gets ready to shoot. Photo/Tyler Lirones
R-P's Tyler Tindall scored a shorthanded goal, with an assist from Gavin Pastotnik, at the 6:30 mark of the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
That held up until the Bulldogs scored the game-winner with just under a minute left .
The Rockets outshot Grandville 12-7 in the third period, but couldn't get the puck into the net. Overall Grandville had a 29-24 edge in shots.
“It’s a building block,” Coach Langlois said about the tough loss. “We had a slow start and they outshot the snot out of us in the first period. It will open the guy’s eyes, hopefully, to prepare better and show up to play three periods of hockey.”