Pelletier leads Broncos
Burrillville icemen author comeback win at tournament
BURRILLVILLE – The Burrillville hockey team went into the second period of Wednesday afternoon’s Burrillville Winter Classic opener against Cranston West having scored just one goal in its previous 10 periods.
So, when Falcon forward Justin Neary fired a shot past goalie Devin Nault just 2 minutes, 17 seconds into the second period to double the visitor’s lead, it appeared the Broncos were well on their way to a fourth straight defeat.
Ryan Boutiette sparked the Broncos into life with a goal 27 seconds later and then senior captain Kyle Pelletier took over for the next eight minutes to make sure the Broncos wouldn’t lose to the Falcons twice in a month.
Pelletier scored a pair of unassisted goals to give Burrillville the lead, and after Cam Kortesky scored his second of the game to tie the contest, Pelletier finished off his hat trick to give Burrillville a lead it would never relinquish in a 6-3 victory over the Falcons at Levy Rink.
“Coach [David Farrell] talked to us before the game about how we had to pick up our game and we just took it to them,” Pelletier said. “We stuck to our system and we played very well. Everyone stepped up today. We were missing some guys like [linemate] Elliot Lafond, but we just played our game and came out on top.”
“I think when you’re struggling like that, once you get one they tend to come in bunches,” Farrell said. “I think that’s what happened today. We moved [Pelletier] from center to wing and I think that freed him up a little bit to be a little more aggressive on the forecheck. He’s a very, very fast explosive player and it was nice to see him bury a few today.”
Burrillville will finish up pool play today at 2 against rival North Smithfield. A victory over the Northmen would assure t he Broncos a spot in the title game Saturday night at 7 likely against North Attleboro.
Cranston West received a pair of goals from Kortesky, while Neary also added a tally. The Falcons, who allowed just one goal in their previous two Division I victories, opened the scoring just 6:29 into the opening period when Jake Drohen hit Nault’s post and Kortesky was on hand to poke the puck into the net.
Neary doubled the lead early in the second period before Burrillville’s captains helped the home side get back into the game. Senior captain Colin Stone and Colin McCarthy created a goal for Boutiette at 2:44. That’s when Stone’s fellow captain, Pelletier, took complete control of the contest.
Pelletier said his favorite goal was his first effort, a slap shot from the point that evaded Cranston West All-Stater D.J. DeAngelis. Pelletier gave Burrillville its first lead since an overtime victory over Cumberland three weeks ago when Pelletier scored on unassisted power-play goal. Even though he wasn’t credited with an assist, Boutiette helped create the goal.
“We won two in a row to start the season and then we lost the last three, so we talked before the game about getting this ship going in the right direction,” Pelletier said. “Me and Colin Stone are the captains and it’s our job to keep morale up in the locker room and we did that. It showed today on the ice.”
Kortesky stopped Pelletier’s barrage with a game-tying goal at 8:13, but the senior took a pass from Matt McClure and scored with 2:53 left in the period to give Burrillville a lead it would never relinquish.
Ryan Deschamps increased the lead to two early in the third period, which gave Farrell a chance to play some of his swing players. Talented youngsters like Mason Dasilva, Dom Savastano, Nick Gervais, Ben Round and Luke Hetu all played important minutes late in the game.
Hetu even scored his first varsity goal with six seconds left in the contest when he fired a short-handed effort into an empty net.
“We’re a little dinged up, but it’s a next-man-up mentality for us,” Farrell said. “It’s nice to give guys in a tournament like this an opportunity to play meaningful minutes against a quality team. Those guys practice with us through out the entire year and they haven’t had much ice time. I was very happy to get some contributions from some new guys.”