Burlington, MA – In what is always a passionate rivalry series each year for the Middlesex League, we stopped by the Burlington Ice Palace to take in the season opener between the Burlington Red Devils and Reading Rockets. The BIP parking lot was jampacked and the bleachers were standing room only, both fan sections were boisterous and accounted for early. Even before the puck drop the Reading faithful were screaming “Rocket’s red glare” at the top of their lungs during the National Anthem. The game was on and both teams were amped and ready to compete.
The first period was a very disjointed one as right off the jump there were penalties called in bunches. Granted, this was a very physical start to the game, but the referee’s arms went up liberally. First, there were three consecutive calls on Reading, followed by three straight calls on Burlington and each team would have at least two minutes of 5-on-3 power play time. In total, we counted eight infractions whistled in 15 minutes of play, which feels like a record that may never be broken. Nonetheless, the penalties told the story of this opening frame. Burlington got their 5-on-3 first and subsequently scored twice. First, off a delayed penalty call to extend the 5-on-3, freshman James Gordon dished the puck to an open junior Nolan Jennings in the slot to make it 1-0 Red Devils. 44 seconds later they would pad their lead as senior captain Charlie Andriolo ripped one from the top of the dot off a feed from junior Seumas McMakin to make it 2-0. A few minutes later the tide began to turn as Reading turned up the heat and drew three straight penalty calls. They initially struggled to get set up in the offensive zone but in to save the day came junior forward Liam Hansen who circled the net and found senior forward Cam Fahey in front: 2-1 was our score after 1.
In the second period, the referees cut the number of penalties down to three which almost felt like a vacation, so to speak. Regardless, Reading really began to dial up the forecheck pressure and generated a lot of scoring chances. They were peppering the Burlington net but to no avail. Sure enough, one of the penalties was called against Reading eight minutes in and Burlington was able to cash in. Andriolo dropped the puck off to Gordon, who walked to the far post and buried to make it 3-1 Red Devils. Two minutes later, Reading would find a way to chip away and restore the 1 goal deficit. Fahey, who created a handful of Grade A looks in this period fired one on net that produced a rebound and senior Matty Fichera was there to pounce on the rebound and flip it over the netminder. 3-2 would be our score as the third period got underway.
In the final frame, there were three more penalties added to the mix for an even 14 over three periods. The main difference in the final frame is that Burlington was unable to capitalize on their man advantage. Reading got off to a hot start on the forecheck and that led to the game-tying tally as a delayed penalty call on the Red Devils led to chaos and Fahey threw one into a sea of bodies that inevitably pinballed off junior Michael Boutiette to make it 3-3 just 1:22 into the period. Four minutes in, Reading would take their first lead of the game as senior Jack Meehan put a shot on net that the goalie had trouble handling and it snuck through his pads: 4-3 Rockets. As it turned out, that would be the deciding goal as Reading owned much of the puck possession after that. Burlington would make a push late with the goalie pulled, but a stolen puck led to a 180-foot clear that found its way into the empty net for Fahey, his second of the game. That would be our final score after 45 minutes of play: 5-3 Reading takes the win.
Three Stars:
- F Cam Fahey, Reading
- F James Gordon, Burlington
- F Nolan Jennings, Burlington