St. John’s and DeMatha opened their MAPHL seasons with a parade. But much to the chagrin of their coaches, it was a parade to the penalty box, as referees called 17 penalties, including three major infractions and minor penalties for slashing, cross-checking, boarding, holding, tripping, roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct and even a bench minor. Scrums after the official’s whistle had blown to stop play were commonplace.

The chippiness in play was mutual, the shots were about even (23 for DeMatha, 25 for St. John’s), and each team had their share of power-play opportunities. The difference in the game turned out to be a brief stretch in the second period when DeMatha exploded for three goals in just over five minutes of play.

The outburst started when Cadets goalkeeper Jack Spicer tried to clear the puck from his goal crease up the middle of the ice. The Stags’ Parker Smith intercepted the clearing attempt at the blue line and fired a shot that beat Spicer at 4:25 of the second period.  Christian Halbig’s power-play goal—a slap shot from the left point—made it 2-0 at 8:37, and Luke Leydig’s rebound of a Ryan Olson wrister gave DeMatha a three-goal lead just 56 seconds later.

Stags’ goaltender Matt Peterson picked up the shutout with several quality saves, including a toe save with under 10 seconds left in the second period.