Northmen hockey can't stay away from penalty box, fall to TC Central
TRAVERSE CITY — The Petoskey hockey team made themselves well acquainted with the penalty box at Howe Arena in Traverse City Tuesday.
Visiting Traverse City Central just out of the Thanksgiving break, the Northmen couldn’t seem to stay away from the whistle and eventually took 5-3 loss after coming back to tie the game in the third.
The Northmen totaled 43 minutes in the box in all on the night, leading to five power-play goals by the Trojans.
“It’s hard to win games when you’re constantly killing off penalties, but they still did a nice job,” Petoskey coach Rob Higgins said. “Five on five, it was a hell of a game. They just got so tired because we were constantly killing penalties.”
Down 3-0 heading to the third period, the Northmen (2-2 overall, 0-1 BNC) picked up a goal by Chris Kavanaugh, assisted by Dylan Robinson, to make it 3-1 early in the third.
Avery Timm then scored for the Northmen, assisted by Kavanaugh and Robinson on a power-play to make it 3-2, then Robinson scored from a Forrest Neff assist to make it 3-3 with around eight minutes left.
Then came a pair of quick Central goals on a five-on-three, giving the Trojans cushion once again, which was aided by penalties.
Petoskey goalie Gavin Szalkowski took the loss in goal for the Northmen, though saw 47 shots in the game, including 22 in the final period.
“Gavin played excellent,” said Higgins. “He did everything he could to keep us in it tonight.”
Petoskey will try to rebound this Friday, Dec. 3 when they host a Toys for Tots game against St. Mary Catholic Central.
Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northmen hockey can't stay away from penalty box, fall to TC Central
