BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Lakes Area United edged its way past the Walled Lake United Whitecaps 3-1 Thursday evening.
The Whitecaps were the better team early, getting their forecheck going and keeping the puck in Lakes Area’s end. But it was Lakes Area who opened the scoring, a bit against the run of play. Nick Falkowski slipped a pass from behind the net toward the front of the goal, and Garrett Springs was waiting in the low slot to quickly one time the puck into the net, scoring his eighth goal of the campaign and giving Lakes Area a 1-0 lead with 7:43 left in the first period.
The line of Falkowski, Springs, and captain Logan Scheidt struck again four minutes later. This time it was Scheidt weaving his way through the defense and getting a power play marker for a 2-0 Lakes Area lead.
“We just kind of shook them up a little bit. Springs is bringing a little spark to that line. So that’s definitely nice to have and nice to see,” Lakes Area United head coach John McMahon said.
The game went back and forth after that. The Whitecaps picked things up offensively in the second period and had a series of near misses on back-post feeds that just did not quite connect. The Whitecaps would finally get on the board early in the third period when Thaddeus Robson’s shot snuck through all the traffic for a power-play goal. That cut Lakes Area’s lead to 2-1 with 14:33 still to play in the game.
Lakes Area United’s Logan Scheidt controls the puck as Walled Lake United’s Cooper Auten (34) looks on in Thursday’s game contested at the Detroit Skating Club. Scheidt scored a power-play goal in the 3-1 win over the Whitecaps. (KEN SWART – For MediaNews Group)
The Whitecaps had a series of power plays later in the period, but Lakes Area United was able to shut those down without any serious threats from the Whitecaps.
“All season, we’ve been awesome on the kill. I think we’re over 90 percent on the kill,” McMahon said. “We’ve been there a lot unfortunately, but we’ve worked our way out of it.”
Eventually, Lakes Area added a late power play goal of its own as Falkowski picked up his third assist of the night, setting up Gavin Grondin with 1:24 to play, sealing the game.
Scheidt picked up his 60th point of the season on the evening, and his 35th goal of the season puts him inside the top-20 scorers in the state. Falkowski, who is also a double-digit goal scorer on the year, now has 15 assists as well.
With the win, Lakes Area United improves to 16-10 overall. Its final regular season game is this Saturday at home against Romeo.
Photo gallery of Lakes Area United vs. Walled Lake United in hockey action
The team will then have a week off before opening the state playoffs against Clarkston on Saturday, Feb. 21, when it will hope to keep its hot streak going, having won eight of its last nine games. The offense has hummed for Lakes over that span, with at least three goals scored in every outing and an average of 4.6 going in the net.
Walled Lake United (9-15-1), who had been coming off a 5-4 overtime defeat to Lake Orion on Feb. 7 — and lost 4-2 to a formidable Troy United team the night before that — now has a quick turnaround.
The Whitecaps are back in action Friday, concluding their league season with a game against Huron Valley United; then, they play Grosse Pointe South on Saturday to conclude their regular season. The Whitecaps will open the playoffs next Thursday against Saginaw Heritage.
“We have a few more games, and then we’ve got the regionals,” Whitecaps head coach Patrick Gaffney said. “We’ve got another try tomorrow.”