North-Souhegan ;players celebrate a goal by Jacob Landry 17 seconds into the game Monday night, much to the chagrin of the Winnacunnet bench at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – What a difference a week makes for the Nashua High School North-Souhegan boys hockey team.

The Saber-Titans were reeling, having lost their fourth straight, and falling out of a possible tournament spot.

Ah, but a week later they have righted the ship with two straight wins, including Monday night’s 7-5 win over Winnacunnet, and are in a tie with Bedford final Division I tourney spot at 6-7.

“Realistically, we’ve got to win some games here coming up,” said Saber-Titans captain Chase McBride, who had four goals and three assists for a fantastic seven-point night. “But I don’t see a better team making it, to be honest. When we’re hot, we’re hot, and we battle anybody hard.”

McBride’s two third period goals helped the locals, who were up 5-1 at one point, hold off the Warriors, 12-3 in Division II. They had closed to 6-5 on a goals 23 seconds apart by Nolan Rennie on the power play and then Drew Marelli with 3:56 left. McBride had scored on shorthanded breakaway that many felt had put the game out of reach at 10:34, but his goal off a pass from Jacob Landry at 11:47 gave the Saber-Titans a 7-5 lead that they maintained the rest of the way. Whew.

“This team doesn’t quit,” Saber-Titans coach Chris Zarlenga said. “That is the mentality of this team. This team does not quit. Whatever we ask of them, at a Monday practice or a Friday practice, it translates into the game. We push them hard for a reason, so they have the legs to go achieve.”

A key difference is the fact Landry returned to the lineup after having to sit out two games due to a recent game misconduct. He scored on a breakaway just 17 seconds in and it looked like it would be a Saber-Titan kind of night. He ended up with that score and three assists, but his superior skating ability set the Saber-Titans offense in motion.

“Having Jacob there, that just trickles down to every line,” McBride said. “Every line plays harder, every line wants to play harder. He’s just a captain on our team, and we need all of us.”

What the Warriors needed to do was stay out of the box, but they took nine penalties, including five in the second period, after which they were down 5-2. It got so bad there was a 10-minute delay for officials to sort things out, especially on the clock.

“Credit to North,” said Winnacunnet coach Paul Kinnaly, much calmer after he had jawed briefly in the hallway with the officials after the game before talking with his team. “They played well, they worked hard, they’re a good team. We knew coming in it was a good team, and they deserved the win.”

As for the plethora of penalties, he said, “You’ll have to ask the officials, I don’t have a comment on that.”

While North-Souhegan didn’t quit, the same could be said for the Warriors.

North-Souhegan led 2-1 after one, McBride from Landry at 6:61 making it 2-0 before the Warriors Tyler Blank scored at 12:19.

North-Souhegan then got three straight – two by Kyle D’Silva and a third by Landry to make it 5-1. Winnacunnet’s Brady Thompson scored before period’s end to make it 5-2. The teams traded goals (Landry, the Warriors’ 10) before the Warriors closed to that 6-5 tally.

Zach Veilleux had 26 saves for North-Souhegan, while Owen Helton had 22 for Winnacunnet, which pulled him in the final minute-plus but couldn’t get closer.

Winnacunnet’s Nolan Rennie dives after the puck as North-Souhegan goalie Zach Veilleux looks on during Monday night’s game at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“This was a must win for us, right,” Zarlenga said. “We dropped a couple in a row, went on a four-game skid, now we’re on a two-game win streak and it’s time to keep it going. We’ve got five games left, the goal is to win the majority of them and get in the playoffs.”

It won’t be easy. They have Hanover on the road on Wednesday, a makeup with Goffstown here on Friday afternoon, arch-rival Nashua South-Pelham next Monday, then top contender Windham on Feb. 21 before closing it out at reeling Trinity Feb. 24.

After the game McBride greeted every player as they got off the ice, with the words “Tough win.”

It was the kind of win the Saber-Titans needed.

“We’re up 5-1, we give up some goals late in the third, but our team doesn’t quit, it doesn’t go down,” McBride said. “We go right back out there and score a couple of goals to put this game away.”

And get going after some tough going.

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