BY MATT STOUT

Following a 3-1 loss to Manchester Central on Jan. 6, the Salem boys hockey team wasn’t playing like a Salem boys hockey team, coach Mark McGinn said.

Nearly two weeks later, the Blue Devils may have started to find themselves – and at exactly the right time.

Despite jumping out to a 4-2 record even with the loss to Central, Salem looked nothing like the teams McGinn had led to Division I semifinal appearances the last two years.

Penalties, for one, had taken their toll. Entering a 4-2 win over Berlin on Wednesday, Jan. 10, Salem had amassed 222 penalty minutes through nine games, meaning it spent, on average, more than a period each game in the box.

Not coincidentally, as it played short-handed more and more, offensive production was down; the Blue Devils were well under three goals scored per game.

Thanks to just nine total penalties taken in two straight wins, including a 3-1 decision over Londonderry on Saturday, Jan. 13, McGinn said “he’s feeling pretty good” about his 6-2 Blue Devils entering their toughest stretch of the season.

Salem travels to face 5-3 Manchester Memorial on Saturday, Jan. 20, then treks to Everett Arena in Concord to face Bishop Brady – which sits at second place in the league – before hosting powerhouse Bishop Guertin, the division’s only undefeated team and runaway favorite for the tournament’s top seed. Salem finishes the month at Everett Arena once again, that time against Concord.

Though McGinn still would like to see more offense – of Salem’s seven goals last week, two were empty-netters – the Blue Devils ability to keep it 5-on-5 more often is certainly a step toward achieving that.

“It seems we would get up for the challenges these last few years, and we have the top two teams in the state, the third-place team and Concord,” McGinn said. “As long as we can keep these penalty minutes down, we’re a team that 5-on-5 is pretty decent, and I would expect most of those games to be tight games, which they usually are.”

One positive coming out of the score sheet has been Salem’s ability to spread the production around. Derek Tomes leads the team with six goals. But Josh Frahm, with five, including Wednesday’s game winner; Ryan Desroches, with five and a team-leading 14 points; and Jay Paradis, with three plus seven assists, are all helping fill the net.

Of course, the road hasn’t been as rocky thanks to the young man filling Salem’s own net. Scott Crowther has been, as expected, spectacular, with a 1.43 goals against average and .942 save percentage.

Having the junior gives Salem the confidence that it can win every game, McGinn said.

Quite possibly, discipline will determine if Salem will win every game. McGinn has shown sloppy play will not be tolerated.

“Coach skated us a lot the last few practices because we have been killing ourselves with penalties,” Frahm said after the win over Berlin. “So we’ve been trying to cut back, skate harder and not to take so many.”