Playing for first time this season at the Olympic Center’s 1932 Rink, SLP put on an offensive display Wednesday on the way to claiming a 7-3 victory over Saranac Central in Lake Placid.

For the second time in two meetings between the teams, SLP unleashed loads of firepower to take down the Chiefs. When the teams clashed for the first time back on Dec. 20, SLP’s skaters unloaded 58 shots on goal during a 7-4 victory. This time around, they peppered two Saranac goaltenders with 54 pucks and buried seven again as six SLP players found the back of the net.

SLP finished with an overwhelming 54-13 advantage in shots on goal.

“The kids really had some offensive punch today,” SLP head coach Keith Clark said. “We generated a lot of chances, particularly in the first and the second. We were getting a lot of pucks to the net and getting some traffic there, which isn’t always easy when you have to adjust to the larger ice surface. Our guys did a nice job bearing down in front of the net and getting the puck behind their keeper.”

Saranac Lake Placid’s Bailey Bartholomew puts on the brakes while handling the puck in front of Saranac Central’s Aiden Recore during the first period of Wednesday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Hugo Hobson scored twice to lead SLP, and Bailey Bartholomew, Rhett Darrah, Brendan Bullock, Dylan Amell and Camden Reiley added single tallies for the winners.

The win was the fourth straight for SLP, which is now 4-0 in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference and 8-3 overall.

The Chiefs, who started the season with four straight wins, have now dropped five of their past seven games, and the setback against SLP was their third loss in a row. Saranac Central fell to 0-3 in league play and 6-5 overall.

Despite being outshot 18-3 in the first period, the Chiefs found themselves tied at 2-2 heading into the second. The walls then caved in on Saranac in the second as SLP pumped in five goals in the period to cruise to the victory.

Although SLP’s offensive flurry started early, Saranac found the mark on its first two shots. The Chiefs opened the scoring on a goal by Zach O’Connell 5:58 into the game. SLP netted the next two, with Bartholomew tying the score 1-1 on his goal at the 9:53 mark. Darrah upped the edge to 2-1 when he stuffed a puck into the short side of the net past Chiefs goaltender Erick Frechette on a power play.

Saranac answered with a goal at the 11:50 mark by Hayden Buckley that sent the teams into the first intermission in a 2-2 deadlock.

SLP then jumped out to a 4-2 lead to start the second period. Bullock, a sophomore, scored 1:12 into the stanza when he top-shelved a wrist shot from the left wing into the far corner of the net. Hobson then followed with his first, getting what proved to be the game-winner 6:33 into the period when he slid a puck into an open net after taking a feed from Ben Munn.

The Chiefs were able to respond one more time when Rylee Wilson scored at the 11:50 mark to cut his team’s deficit to 4-3.

SLP then sealed the win in a big way, netting three goals in less than two minutes. Amell, the leading scorer in the CVAC, got the run started when he buried his 10th goal of the season at the 10:08 mark for a 5-3 SLP lead. Reiley upped the edge to three goals 42 seconds later with his first tally of the season, and Hobson rounded out the scoring at the 11:34 mark with his second goal of the game and sixth of the season.

Anders Stanton made 10 saves to record the win in nets. Frechette started between the pipes for Saranac and made 26 saves before being replaced after SLP scored its fifth goal. Macen Mero finished the game in nets for the Chiefs and registered 21 saves.

“It certainly wasn’t our night. SLP is obviously a very strong team — very fast, very athletic,” Saranac Central head coach Steve Komanecky said. “Tonight, we let it get away from us in the second period. Our faceoffs weren’t very good, we were losing loose puck battles and in our D-zone. We weren’t as aggressive as we would have liked to be.

“There were some positives within all of that,” Komanecky added. “I think our first line blocked a lot of shots, and our third line to start played very well. They did a good job getting the puck out and getting the puck in deep, but its tough to win when you only put up 13 shots. We have the talent, it’s just putting it all together and working hard. I think we were just playing too passive in our defensive zone.”

This marks the first year that two teams who were bitter rivals only a year ago — the Saranac Lake Red Storm and the Lake Placid Blue Bombers — have combined. And so far, so good as SLP stands at the top of the CVAC standings with a perfect 4-0 mark. SLP is ranked 10th statewide among Division II teams in the New York sports writers poll.

“It’s still a work in progress. We’re still working out the way we want to play all the time, and we’re definitely seeing more consistency out of our group,” Clark said. “I think everyone in that locker room knows we are SLP and really trying to keep us focused on trying to make sure we play the way we can play. It’s been an enjoyable challenge.

“Any time you combine two teams, there’s going to be some meshing that has to take place and it’s not always easy,” Clark added. “I think right now we’re seeing a lot of selflessness. We’re just emphasizing team play and we’re getting there.”

“It’s definitely different but it’s been nice winning,” said SLP forward Hunter Wilmot, a senior at Lake Placid High School. “We’re definitely bonding and I think we’re playing pretty well too. More than anything, it’s just fun. I think were moving the puck well as a team. We’re getting to know each other better.”

SLP now has more than a week off from competition and will face a stiff test when the team next plays two games in as many days against state-ranked Spencerport from Section V. The games will be played on the same 1932 Olympic Center ice sheet on Jan. 24 and 25, with respective 8 p.m. and 1 p.m. start times.