White River Junction
A third-period hat trick from the Falcons’ Alex Giroux — goals that covered maybe 20 feet in total travel from tape to twine — broke a 2-2 tie and powered fourth-seeded North Country to a 6-3 win over No. 1 Hartford at Wendell A. Barwood Arena on Tuesday night. All of the goals came on crease feeds from wing Dawson Cote, all set up by a second-intermission line switch by coach Ryan Jacobs.
The Canes (16-5-1) rallied from Giroux’s first two strikes to tie the game … or so they thought. Officials waved off a potential tying goal from Hartford’s Tyler Hamilton with 9:24 to play for goaltender interference, Giroux completed his trifecta less than a minute later and Brady Perron — the forward moved from the top line to free Giroux and Cote — added the dagger with 4:41 to go.
“It originated from mismanaging the puck, and then we had breakdowns down low,” Hartford coach Todd Bebeau lamented afterward. “Games are won below the dots at the high school level. We lost track of people, we didn’t eliminate sticks, and it cost us.”
North Country (16-5-0) completed another hat trick with the decision, beating the Canes for the third time this campaign. The Falcons scored 10-1 and 3-1 wins, the latter at WABA, a week apart in January.
Cote took his table-setting duties seriously for North Country, earning primary assists on five goals. Giroux added an assist to his hat trick, and Perron struck twice with goals. The Falcons prevailed despite a 44-30 discrepancy in shots on goal built on two periods of Hartford control of both possession and territory.
“In the third, I switched things around a little bit,” North Country coach Ryan Jacobs said. “We have (Perron), who they just followed around the ice the whole time. I tried to move Dawson Cote with Alex Giroux; those are my top three forwards. I moved those two together. … That worked well, and I’m glad that it did, obviously.”
The visitors’ four-goal third period got its start late in the second.
Hamilton’s 19th goal of the campaign at 13:11 of the middle stanza appeared to put Hartford in the driver’s seat, up 2-1 with the second intermission looming. North Country’s Jordan Cote had other ideas, banging home a Dawson Cote crease feed with 13 ticks on the clock to keep the combatants level at the buzzer.
Dawson Cote kept his spatula warm for the start of the third, too. He set up Giroux’s first goal after just 15 seconds from behind the Hartford goal and did it again at 2:45, capitalizing on a Hurricane puck-handling error to feed Giroux at the edge of Hartford goalie Richie Morrill’s crease for a 4-2 lead. Morrill (24 saves) had precious little defensive protection in both cases, and Bebeau used his allotted timeout to settle his troops down.
“The first two periods was the best two periods of hockey we played all year long; we were fast, we were crisp, we were physical, we were getting the puck to the net,” the 19th-year Hartford coach said. “The back-breaker was the one we gave with 13 seconds to go, and it carried right over into the third period.”
The full house at WABA got the response for which it hoped from the break in action. Ben Rouillard intercepted a misguided North Country outlet pass and ripped a shot past goalie Dana Marsh (41 saves) just 10 seconds after play resumed to reignite the rink. Marsh provided a highlight-reel save two minutes later, flashing his glove to rob Hamilton from the right dot on a below-the-goal-line feed from Rouillard.
Further Hartford aggression led to the apparent tying goal at 5:36. Rouillard threw a shot from the right boards that Marsh stopped just as the crease-crashing Allard arrived, making contact with the goalie’s stick in the process. Hamilton potted the weak-side rebound, but the referees waved off the strike after a short discussion.
Dawson Cote whipped a goal-line pass from the right corner that Giroux converted for his hat trick at 6:30. Perron ended any remaining doubt with an unassisted goal at 10:19.
“Todd runs a very good system, and it took the guys time to get acclimated to it and figure it out,” Jacobs said. “That’s kudos to Todd on that end of it. In the third, we figured that out and put a little more pressure (on them) and were able to sustain a little more pressure.”
North Country’s final assault — and Hartford’s final moments on the ice this winter — left Bebeau at a loss afterward.
“It’s really hard to put into words right now; things are pretty raw,” he said. “The disappointment I feel is that I can’t coach them anymore. These kids are fantastic. I care deeply for them, and the fact that our season ended tonight, it’s raw right now.”
Ice Chips: Perron scored the game’s first goal at 7:17 of the first period, which Allard answered at 12:29 with his 26th of the year. Rouillard’s unassisted goal in the third was also his 26th for Hartford. … The Canes went the night without drawing a penalty. North Country surrendered two power plays but survived both. Marsh saved four shots on the first and had an Allard bid hit the right post flush. … Perhaps a little overzealous, a Hartford supporter running with a team flag along the bleacher walkway following Rouillard’s goal got the flagpole stuck in the protective netting above the glass. … North Country will meet No. 2 Harwood (an 8-4 winner over No. 3 Burr & Burton on Tuesday evening) in Thursday’s final at UVM’s Gutterson Field House. … Hartford graduates six: Rouillard, Morrill, Allard, goalie Matt Libuda, forward Jordan McReynolds and defenseman Nate Robinson.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.