Nashua South-Pelham goalie Ethan Robinson makes a save on a shot by MHBDS' Alex May during Saturday's game at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – You’re not going to win too many hockey games with no more than one shot every time down the ice.

The Nashua High School South-Pelham boys hockey team found that out the hard way on Saturday, dropping a 3-2 decision to the area’s newest tri-op, Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield in front of a great crowd at Conway Arena.

A perfect example was the fact the Kings (just 15 shots) had a two-man advantage over the final 1:43 thanks to a penalty and pulling goalie Ethan Robinson, yet managed just one shot on WarHawks goalie James Brew.

“I think I counted four missed shots on that 6-on-4 at the end,” Kings coach Jordan Sarracco said. “Just in general, all game we lacked on shooting and shooting on net. We’re at team we’re not going to get all pretty goals. We need to fire the puck on net, crash and score the rebounds, but we weren’t doing that today.”

Part of that was due to the WarHawks, one might think.

“I was really happy with the way we played defensively,” WarHawks coach Dan Belliveau said, his team now 2-1 on the young season. “I think that kind of matriculated right into the third period, especially right down the line there at the end. It’s never a fun time when there’s less than two-minutes to go and they call a penalty on you. But you’ve got to dig deep, and that’s what these kids did.”

It was an entertaining game to say the least, with a fabulous atmosphere. The two teams were scoreless after the first period, but the Kings got on the board first with Brendan Doughty’s power play blast from just over the blue line that beat a surprised Brew (13 saves) at 2:04 of the second period, assisted by Broden Landsteiner.

But that seemed to ignite the Warhawks, who spent the rest of the period firing on Kings goalie Ethan Robinson (16 saves), resulting in three unanswered goals. The first came just 41 seconds after the Kings’ goal, scored by Felix Rattunde as he deflected a shot from the point by Caleb May (assist). The WarHawks got the go-ahead goal by Alex May, assisted by Will Farrell and Blake Beaulieu at 6:20. A minute-and-a-half later Farrell scored on the power play, assisted by Alex Gertz for a 3-1 MHBDS lead.

“These kids have a lot of pride,” said Belliveau, who felt his team wasn’t itself in the first period. “It’s amazing to me and the other coaches how fast they’ve chemistry and kind of jelled in two weeks time, coming from different schools. They’ve been playing like one team from Day One. It’s really amazing.”

South-Pelham bounced back from its poor second period to get a power play goal by 8 form 9 just 2:30 into the third, cutting the gap to 3-2. That just added to the entertainment. What also hurt the Kings was the fact they took three penalties that kept them either a man behind or in a 4-on-4 in nearly half the period.

But they got a tripping call on Farrell with just under two to play, but couldn’t cash in. Belliveau felt the Beaulieu and Caleb may made smart defensive decisions at the end.

“They got the puck down into the corner,” Belliveau said. “That’s not the easiest thing to do; you’ve got to keep that puck moving otherwise they’ll call another penalty on you for delay of game. He (May) did a great job of that, dug deep, and he’s a captain on the team. Senior leadership really helps this year.”

Nashua South-Pelham’s Brendan Doughty, left, and the WarHawks’ Colin Hamlin battle along the boards during Saturday’s inter-division clash at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Nashua South-Pelham’s Brendan Doughty, left, and the WarHawks’ Colin Hamlin battle along the boards during Saturday’s inter-division clash at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Still, despite the loss, for the Kings this was a much better effort than their basic no-show in the season opener vs. Trinity, a 6-0 loss. In fact, Saturday was one of the best games they’ve had in the last year; the two teams will see each other again a week from yesterday in the final game of the Backyard Brawl holiday tourney at Conway that also features North-Souhegan and Alvirne-Milford. That starts Thursday.

“I’m very happy with how the team played as a whole,” Sarracco said. “It’s a big change from where we were in our first game of the year. Lot of positive takeaways to roll into the holiday break and get us into the holiday tournament, and hopefully we’ll walk out of there with three wins.”