Darien boys hockey easily defeats Staples for sixth straight win

Seven Darien players lit the lamp in the Blue Wave's 8-0 win over visiting Staples/Weston/Shelton on Wednesday night at the Darien Ice Rink. The lopsided win ran Darien's winning streak to six straight games.

Brenden Hathaway, who scored Darien's second and fifth goals, indicated that it was a positive sign that so many Blue Wave players were able to contribute to the scoring.

"We have four solid lines. When we get it down low, we can cycle it really well. When we get it to the net, we take good shots and everyone can score," Hathaway said. "We're playing well, but we just need to keep it going. We've got to keep winning, keep the streak going and win against good teams like New Canaan and Ridgefield."

Staples (6-3), which started off the season by winning its first five games, has stumbled recently and dropped three out of its last four.

To make matters worse, Staples had to compete without several of its top players, and starting goalie Riley MacDonald suffered a head injury in the first period and was forced to exit the game in favor of backup Zach Polin. Mike Lynch also sustained an injury and did not return.

"In my opinion [MacDonald] is the best Division-II goalie in the state. We only had 10 skaters as it was and then [Lynch] got hit with a puck in the first period, so we were down another senior," Staples coach Ralph Unker said. "We were down about six guys, and that's big. I thought we did a respectable job, but a lot of key positions were missing and all our lines got screwed up."

Just over five minutes into the contest, Darien's (7-3) Thomas Watters opened the scoring by executing a textbook give-and-go with teammate Trent Bergin. While bearing down on the net, Watters sent a quick pass to Bergin, who quickly passed back to Watters for the one-time goal.

Hathaway then picked up his first of two tallies after taking in a pass from Alec Foresta.

Bergin notched a goal of his own with 1:24 remaining in the first period to give the Blue Wave a 3-0 lead heading into the intermission.

It was more of the same in the second period, as Connor Davis increased Darien's lead to 4-0 after receiving a pass from Bergin. Four minutes later, Hathaway scored an unassisted goal to make it 5-0. Hank Glick closed out the scoring in the second period as Nick Bruno and George Gregory collected assists on the play.

Starting in place of Darien's usual starting goalie Max Rothston, Darien goalie Hunt Bartram turned away all 10 Staples shots to earn the shutout.

"It feels great. It was a slow game, but you've got to stay focused and be ready for anything that can come at you," Bartram said. "We've got some tough games coming up, so we've got to use momentum from this game and carry into the hard part of the season. I always try to make the first save, feel comfortable and after that just stay in the zone and focus."

Polin turned away 24 Darien shots in the losing effort.

Staples' Forest Savage and Wyatt Fern came as close to scoring as anyone else for the Wreckers, but each player was denied by Bartram.

Darien's two third period goals were scored by Dana Wensberg and Bruno. Hathaway assisted on Wensberg's goal, and John Knowlton and Gregory assisted Bruno.

Darien goes for seven in a row when it takes on Norwalk/McMahon on Saturday at 8:10 p.m. at the Darien Ice Rink.

Staples looks to get back on the winning track when it goes up against Westhill at the Milford Ice Pavilion on Saturday at 3 p.m.

"When we get our guys back, I think we'll be a pretty good team," Unker said. "When you're playing in a competitive league, you've got to have all of your main horses."