Moses Lake Coyotes score 3 goals in 2 minutes in 5-3 loss to Lewiston
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldA Lewiston player crashed into Moses Lake goaltender Conner Johhnson as teammate Easton Nelson (31) tries to help during the action at Larson Recreation Center Saturday morning. The Coyotes lost the early match 5-3.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake forward Cole Tabert (right), sends Lewiston’s aaron Gramm flying during Satufday’s 5-3 loss in the morning game at Larson Recreation Center.
MOSES LAKE — It took 32 minutes for all hell to break loose, but when it finally did there was flurry of pucks in the net Saturday morning at Larson Recreation Center.
The Moses Lake Coyotes scored three goals in a 2-minute span to close the gap, but just couldn’t find that one-more shot to tie the thing up in their 5-3 loss to Lewiston (Idaho) Lightning in their midget hockey match on the outdoor arena at Larson.
The thing went scoreless into the third period, although the Lightning pressure pushed play into the Moses Lake end most of the first two periods. The first goal was a bit questionable when Coyote goaltender Conner Johnson’s mobility was impaired with a Lewiston player at his feet and the puck stalled on the line, but officials called it a goal.
Talk about an ice breaker, the Lightning scored all four goals in a 3-minute span to take a 4-0 lead with 9:35 remaining. The Coyotes responded with three of their own goals in a 2-minute time frame to make it a one-goal game with 4;10 left. In all, seven goals were scored in nine minutes in the final period.
“On that first goal, we had a little bit of a breakdown because we knew we had a penalty coming,” Coyote coach Ty Howard said. “Lewiston is more tactical than we are. They got all their goals in a matter of a couple of minutes. We finally caught a break with a deflection on our first goal, that kind of got things going. I thought that was a wake-up to a slow start.”
The Coyotes (6-2) found the net three times in two minutes. But the third one was thing of beauty off the stick of Easton Nelson. The Coyote defender put a left-handed slap shot just under the far elbow from a couple of steps inside the blue line. Lightning goaltender Conner Stamper never had a chance. The shot rang off the pipe going in to make it a 4-3 match with plenty of time, 4:10.
“I was just inside the blue line,” Nelson explained. “One of the guys passed out and it was perfect for me to take a slapshot. I got it on the right side of the net, it hit the post and put a nice ring on it.”
The Lightning came back hard on the attack and the Coyotes, who struggled on the transition all match long, never put another quality shot on goal, despite taking 26 on the day. But the sparks did fly in just their second defeat of the season.
Moses Lake’s Kameron Huberdeau scored twice. Nelson added the slapshot. Noah Lybbert and Zack Bishop had assists. Johnson ended up with 24 saves on 28 shots in net. The Coyotes converted on three of 26 shots on goal.
“They were really quick on the front line,” Moses Lake defender Carson Pesta said. “When we got the momentum back in the third period, I thought it changed things.”
Huberdeau guided the puck past Stamper, then scored again on a nice 2-on-1 breakaway with a wrister at 5:34.
Overall, Johnson was solid between the pipes for Moses Lake, despite the flurry.
“Once we got back in the game, I really had to focus and not give another one,” Johnson said. “This one of the better teams we’ve played. We just need to keep working. You could see how the (Lightning) was moving the puck through better passes. We’ll keep working and improving.” Score by periods Lewiston 0 0 5 — 5 Moses Lake 0 0 3 — 3
Scoring summary Lew — Aaron Gramm, 12:46 Lew — Simon Hill, 11:32 Lew — Cooper Heneltt, 10:32 Lew — Hill, 9:35 ML — Kameron Huberdeau, Zack Bishop, 6:11 ML— Huberdeau, Noah Lybbert, 5:34 ML — Easton Nelson, 4:10 Lew — Heneltt, empty net, :07.1