It was the second time this season that Tupper Lake defeated SLP on their home ice. The Lumberjacks previously topped SLP 6-4 to win the Casey McHugh Memorial Tournament on Dec. 9.

“There’s something special about a Tupper Lake versus (Saranac Lake Placid) game,” Tupper Lake head coach Broyce Guerette said. “The crowd was packed. Our student section was insane.”

Brayden Shannon made 41 saves and the Lumberjacks improved to 5-3 overall.

“Our goaltender right now is on fire,” Guerette said. “He’s playing wonderful hockey. It’s hard to ask for anything more from the boys because they just keep doing the right things.”

Brady Skiff, Kyler McClain, Mason Fowler and Logan Flagg also scored for Tupper Lake, and Karter Kenniston and Aiden Churco added two assists. Sawyer Dewyea recorded one assist in the win.

“While I think both teams played their best, I still think our guys outplayed them,” SLP’s head coach Josh Spanburgh said. “We didn’t get some puck bounces. They got some puck bounces and took advantage of them.”

SLP’s Brayden Harvey, Carson St. Louis, Ayden McCormick, Carver Bell and Will Landriault recorded one goal each. St. Louis, McCormick, Andrew Gay, Evan Willett, Ryan Bartholomew and Kellan Duffy each had one assist.

“Like many teams up in the North Country, we’re a little young but I think these guys are players and they’re working their tails off right now,” Spanburgh said. “I feel like we’re making progress. We’re looking forward to next week when we get to play them again.”

After coming off a 9-6 win over Northeastern Clinton the night before, SLP got off to a rocky start on Thursday. McClain and Fowler connected on buried rebound goals to give the Lumberjacks a 2-0 lead. However, SLP evened the game with back-to-back goals from Harvey and McCormick to close out the opening period.

Shaheen opened the second with a quick goal to give Tupper Lake a 3-2 lead, before St. Louis netted the equalizer.

With the game tied at 3-3, Skiff stole the puck in the SLP defensive zone and slipped past three defenders before scoring over the shoulder of SLP’s goalie Cassidy Goodman. The goal was Skiff’s first-ever varsity goal.

“I think it was three guys he deked out and then top right corner … Unreal,” Guerette said. “He’s been playing great and he’s progressing every single game and getting better and better. I think that moment right there was his moment of coming out of his shell and being like, ‘I’m ready to play.’

“I think that goal is what boosted our team,” he added. “It helped us get through when they tied it up. He gets that goal and it just lifted our guys and put us over the edge. That was probably the biggest reason why we won.”

Shaheen scored a short-handed goal in the final second of the middle period. He then extended his team’s lead to 6-3 in the third period.

“He has this really great shot where he can shoot in stride,” Guerette said. “It’s a really hard deke move. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid do that. That’s such a deceptive move for the defense and the goalie because they never know when he’s going to shoot.”

While trailing by three, SLP nearly mounted the comeback when Bell scored his second goal in as many days followed by a goal from Landriault to make the score 6-5.

“Our team shows resiliency and they don’t let it get them down,” Spanburgh said. “We see a lot of these guys, especially our older guys, pushing the younger guys in a positive manner.”

The comeback fell short after Flagg scored an empty net goal. Goodman had 26 saves in nets as SLP fell to 3-2 overall.

The two squads will play again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 at the Tupper Lake Civic Center.