Evan Conolly and Max Moran scored shorthanded goals 31 seconds apart while killing the same penalty to break a 1-1 tie on their way to a 4-3 win over Churchville-Chili. It marked their second victory of the season and avenged an earlier 4-1 loss to the Saints.
Ryan Frazer staked Spencerport to a 1-0 at 2:34 of the first period with assists from Jacob Cerretto and Todd Smith.
Saints forward and leading scorer Tanner Metcalfe tied the game four minutes later with an unassisted power play goal.
Moments after failing on their own power play opportunity in the second period, the Rangers found themselves killing a penalty. Moran was aggressive on the forecheck after his teammates cleared the puck into the Saints’ zone. He created a turnover and found Conolly along in front, who found the lower left corner of the net to give Spencerport a 2-1 lead.
Just 31 seconds later, Moran took passes from Tyler McDonald and Mason Besser, skated down the right wing and drove the net where he was able to sneak the puck past the goaltender’s pads and into the net for a 3-1 lead.
“They were playing our penalty kill system to a tee,” Rangers head coach Jason Rich said about the shorthanded tallies. “They put a lot of pressure on their defense and then were able to convert.”
Early in the third period, Besser gathered up a loose puck at center ice and entered the Saints’ zone. His wrist shot was stopped, but he was able to bang in the rebound at 2:08 and give the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
Churchville-Chili would not go quietly however. Eric Andolina tucked the puck five-hole at 9:32 with assists from Alan Brault and Connor Snover to make it 4-2 Rangers.
Then, with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, Spencer Quinn scored on a rebound from a Snover shot with eight seconds remaining to cut the lead to one.
But the Rangers won the draw and were able to finish off the last few seconds.
Josh Lester made 20 saves on 23 shots for the Rangers while counterpart Ben Trembath made 24 saves in the Saints net.
“This was a game we knew we had to win in order to have a shot at home ice in the first round of the playoffs,” Rich said. “They are in a battle with Geneva and Batavia with three games remaining in the regular season.”
