The Reeths-Puffer hockey team hasn’t lost many games lately, but one defeat, back on Dec. 21, bothered the Rockets quite a bit.
It was a 3-2 loss to conference rival Grand Haven on a night when R-P had a 34-18 shot advantage but couldn’t get much past the opposing goalie.
The Rockets have been eager to avenge that loss, and they did it on Wednesday night with a 3-1 victory over the Buccaneers at Lakeshore Ice Centre. Jaxon Stone led the effort with a pair of goals.
The outcome gave the Rockets three straight wins and 13 victories in their last 16 games.
Reeths-Puffer is now 13-5 overall and 5-2 in conference play after losing the first two games of the season. The Rockets are tied for second place with Grand Haven in the O-K Conference Fischer Division, one victory behind first-place Hudsonville.
R-P's Jaxon Stone, who scored two goals in Wednesday's victory. Photo/Joe Lane
“We have a very solid squad this year,” said R-P Coach Ryan Martin, when asked about his team's recent success. “There is a lot of confidence. We sometimes start slow, but once we get going you can definitely feel it. The boys come to life and the energy on the bench turns. The boys have a lot of fun once that starts to happen.”
The Rockets fought hard to get on the scoreboard in the first period. Their first two apparent goals were waved off by the referees, but Tyler Tindall finally broke through with a power play goal midway through the period, with assists by Eli Cuti and Connor Stawski.
Grand Haven tied the game with a power play goal in the second period, then Stone scored his first goal on a rebound of a blocked shot and the Rockets led 2-1 heading into the third.
The R-P penalty killing unit played a big role in the second period, keeping Grand Haven from scoring on a five-minute major power play.
Most of the third period was scoreless, then Stone capped off the victory with a long empty-net goal with only 1.8 seconds remaining in the game.
Tanner Bonjernoor got the win in goal for R-P, stopping 25 of 26 shots. Reeths-Puffer had 25 shots in the game.
The Rockets will try to keep their hot streak going this weekend with Friday and Saturday games in Mount Pleasant against the Mid-Michigan Raptors.
