North Tonawanda was ready to show what it was capable of Monday night at HarborCenter. The Lumberjacks were up against Division 3’s St. Francis, and they knew they’d have to be at their best to turn around a 2-4 start in league play.
“Going into a Division 3 opponent, we always expect a good level of play — much better, much tighter,” NT coach Alan Zbytek said. “We’re not gonna be able to make any mistakes and not have to pay for it, so we knew we’d have to be disciplined, strong in our own zone, and just take advantage of opportunities as we get ’em in the offensive zone.”
“We expected a tough game,” said NT captain Dan Smolka. “We knew they were gonna come out flying. Years past, they’ve been a good Division 3 team, so we knew we had to get our legs going right from the get go.”
NT came away with a 2-1 overtime win as Smolka scored the equalizer in the third and Austin Spatorico came through in overtime.
The game was scoreless through two periods, and NT and St. Francis matched each other shot for shot almost perfectly. The Lumberjacks led in shots on goal after two just 13-12.
When St. Francis’ John Horab gave the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead just 2:10 into the third, Smolka answered back just 23 seconds later. Both he and Zbytek agreed that it was a strange goal, but NT’s forecheck and Smolka’s chance to capitalize in front of the net bought NT some more time.
“That was a weird goal,” Zbytek said. “I don’t even know if he even touched the puck near the end, but the hard forecheck caused the guy to panic and turn the puck over, and he was there to touch it or whatever, but it was really good to see Smolka do that. He works hard all the time and doesn’t get many opportunities to score goals way down low in the crease, so it was good to see him get one.”
“Got the puck around our blue line, skated it down, tried a little move there, which I don’t typically do, and I don’t know, not the prettiest goal I’ve scored,” Smolka said. “Not the most normal. Kinda got lucky, and I feel bad for him. That was huge for us. We gained back all the momentum after giving back the first goal, so it was a good goal.”
The rest of the third period saw chances on both sides, but neither team was able to capitalize. It’s been a struggle for NT the past few games.
“The last three games, we’ve been playing really well and generating a lot of shots on goal, and we just haven’t been able to get them in,” Zbytek said. “Even today was a struggle to put some in. We would just miss it.”
The Lumberjacks watched an open net opportunity and a 5-on-3 advantage pass them by later in the third. But at their end, junior goaltender Nick Przybylski made a few key saves to keep the game tied. St. Francis gave him plenty to do, but he used it for good.
“I didn’t really have a time where I had no shots on net for a while, where I was just sitting down there getting cold, so the constant action really helped keep me focused on the game,” Przybylski explained.
The Red Raiders outshot the Lumberjacks 13-9 in the third, but neither team backed down, and the game carried to overtime.
“We knew we had to keep going,” Smolka said. “We couldn’t let up one bit, had to shove it down their throats a little bit, I guess. Not let them gain any momentum in our zone, and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
“Couldn’t stop moving our feet,” Spatorico added. “We just had to keep moving, use our speed. They had a little bit more size than us, but we just had to keep moving our feet, driving through ’em, and put pucks to the net.”
And with 41.7 seconds left in overtime, Spatorico put a puck to the net that found its way through.
“It’s overtime; everything’s a big blur that period,” Spatorico said. “Those five minutes go by fast. Didn’t know there was a minute left. I saw the puck squirt out from behind the net, and I just tried to get it on net, and the goalie didn’t hug his post, and it just squirted through.”
Przybylski finished with 26 saves for the win. He and senior goaltender Jake Riley have split time in net so far this season as Zbytek waits for one of them to prove himself.
“I’ve been waiting for them to separate themselves and see who has the upper edge,” Zbytek said. “Today went a long way in saying that because [Przybylski] played a strong game. Best game of the season for us, goaltending wise. Riley’s capable of doing that too, so if he can look up to that challenge now and see what Nick did and copy that performance, that’d be a great situation. Whoever gets hot is gonna play.”
“I just made sure that I was in the game,” Przybylski said. “I’m having trouble this year getting too into it, getting too excited, and I’ve had some shaky starts this year, so I’m trying now to just stay focused, stay calm, and just work on the basics, and I’ve been making more saves because of it.”
With a new year comes a new beginning for the Lumberjacks, and they hope to continue what they showed Monday night.
“Undefeated in 2017,” said Smolka with a grin, prompting laughter from those around him. “That’s the way we wanted to start off after a slow start. Hell of a game by Nicky over here, so keep going.”
“Now that we know we can beat a Division 3 team, we have the confidence now,” Przybylski said. “We know we can beat the rest of these teams or at least play with them, so this is a big confidence booster.”
“We were looking at this game to go forward,” Zbytek said. “Our next two opponents are Division 3 teams too, which will probably be even a harder challenge for us to beat. But using this game as a springboard into those next two, hopefully we can be competitive and pull out a win.”