SLP’s Ayden McCormick carries the puck on a breakaway during a game against Tupper Lake on Dec. 28, 2023 at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE — Tupper Lake’s Griffin Shaheen scored three goals and added an assist to lead the Lumberjacks boys hockey team to a 7-5 victory over Saranac Lake Placid on Dec. 28, 2023 at the Saranac Lake Civic Center.

It was the second time this season that Tupper Lake defeated SLP on their home ice. The Lumberjacks previously topped SLP 6-4 to win the Casey McHugh Memorial Tournament on Dec. 9.

Brayden Shannon made 41 saves and the Lumberjacks improved to 5-3 overall.

Brady Skiff, Kyler McClain, Mason Fowler and Logan Flagg also scored for Tupper Lake, and Karter Kenniston and Aiden Churco added two assists. Sawyer Dewyea recorded one assist in the win.

“While I think both teams played their best, I still think our guys outplayed them,” SLP’s head coach Josh Spanburgh said. “We didn’t get some puck bounces. They got some puck bounces and took advantage of them.”

SLP’s Brayden Harvey, Carson St. Louis, Ayden McCormick, Carver Bell and Will Landriault recorded one goal each. St. Louis, McCormick, Andrew Gay, Evan Willett, Ryan Bartholomew and Kellan Duffy each had one assist.

After coming off a 9-6 win over Northeastern Clinton the night before, SLP got off to a rocky start on Dec. 28. McClain and Fowler connected on buried rebound goals to give the Lumberjacks a 2-0 lead. However, SLP evened the game with back-to-back goals from Harvey and McCormick to close out the opening period.

Shaheen opened the second with a quick goal to give Tupper Lake a 3-2 lead, before St. Louis netted the equalizer.

With the game tied at 3-3, Skiff stole the puck in the SLP defensive zone and slipped past three defenders before scoring over the shoulder of SLP’s goalie Cassidy Goodman. The goal was Skiff’s first-ever varsity goal.

Shaheen scored a short-handed goal in the final second of the middle period. He then extended his team’s lead to 6-3 in the third period.

While trailing by three, SLP nearly mounted the comeback when Bell scored his second goal in as many days followed by a goal from Landriault to make the score 6-5.

“Our team shows resiliency and they don’t let it get them down,” Spanburgh said. “We see a lot of these guys, especially our older guys, pushing the younger guys in a positive manner.”

The comeback fell short after Flagg scored an empty net goal. Goodman had 26 saves in nets as SLP fell to 3-2 overall.

The two squads were slated to play again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4 at the Tupper Lake Civic Center.