The SLP boys topped non-league rival Tupper Lake 8-1 at the Saranac Lake Civic Center to place third in the tournament.

It was a vastly different performance from SLP, which suffered a 6-2 loss to the Plattsburgh Hornets in the opening round of the tournament Friday afternoon. The team had posted a strong opening period, but couldn’t stop the Hornets in the final two.

“We just saw some other things that came about in the second (period) and threw us off our game, and that was the end result yesterday,” SLP head coach Josh Spanburgh said. “I’m really happy with how they played for three full periods (on Saturday). That’s what we’ve been pushing a lot is come to work, practice or game, and put in a full effort and today we got that. Everyone got on the ice, which was really nice to see. So everyone got some work in, and sometime in so I’m really proud of that.”

Will Landriault and Ayden McCormick each scored two goals and had one assist for SLP, while Carver Bell also added a pair of goals en route to the team’s second victory of the season.

Tupper Lake’s Gauge LaValley, right, skates with the puck while SLP’s Gerald Woodruff defends during Saturday’s game in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

SLP’s Brayden Harvey and Ryan Bruce each scored one goal and teammate Carson St. Louis had two assists. Six other players — Ryan Bartholomew, Evan Harvey, Ethan Knight, Owen Lawrence, MacKaid Nicholas and Gerald Woodruff — recorded one assist.

Karter Kenniston scored the lone goal for Tupper Lake, which dropped both of its tournament games. The Lumberjacks, which won the Casey McHugh tournament last season, suffered an 8-2 loss to the Franklin Academy (Malone) Huskies on Friday. The Huskies ultimately won the tournament with a 5-2 victory over Plattsburgh on Saturday.

“I think we could play better (on Saturday) for sure, but we’re pretty set back right now,” Tupper Lake head coach Broyce Guerette said.

The Lumberjacks’ home arena — the Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center — has been without ice since October because of a broken chilling vessel. It’s caused the team to have limited ice time, including just one practice last week.

“Because of our ice situation, we’re behind,” Guerette said. “Typically we know where everyone is going to be. We have all this stuff ironed out, and we’re just not able to get that time to do it. So, we’re trying to do it on the fly. It’s tough.”

SLP’s Brayden Harvey skates with the puck during Saturday’s Casey McHugh Memorial Tournament game against Tupper Lake at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Landriault got SLP going with a goal at 10:29 in the opening period, and a couple of minutes later set up McCormick to lift his team to a 2-0 advantage. Knight also assisted on the second goal.

Kenniston cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the second period, however, Bruce responded for SLP with his first career varsity goal less than two minutes later.

“I’m very proud of Ryan Bruce, he’s been working hard and getting a lot of instruction and it came to fruition,” Spanburgh said.

SLP took firm command of the game when Landriault netted his second goal before the middle period’s end. Brayden Harvey gave SLP a 5-1 edge when he scored early in the third, and McCormick made it 6-1 when he buried a shot a couple minutes later. Bell rounded out the scoring with back-to-back goals.

Goaltender, Cassidy Goodman, recorded 20 saves in the victory for SLP, while Tupper Lake’s Brayden Shannon had 21 stops.

Tupper Lake’s Phil Lindsay carries the puck during Saturday’s game against SLP in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

While Spanburgh said it was a complete team effort, he was especially proud of how his defense has stepped up this season.

“We used to be a little more panicky last year and I feel like this year our defense is a little more composed and comfortable,” he said. “They’re making some really good plays, which is helping us quite a bit.”

Tupper Lake had plenty of scoring chances and was only outshot 29-21. Guerette noted that it didn’t help that the team had too many penalties.

“We played down a man a lot, and it’s just so hard,” he said. “It ends up making our bench tired, it makes things all jumbled up because the lines can’t remain the same, and it’s just confusion on the players, coaches and all around. It makes it really hard.

“The first two periods they came out and were ready,” Guerette added. “They played disciplined, their positioning was where it needs to be, we just have to connect and get our chemistry going. That comes in practice, and again we’re not getting it.”

SLP’s Carson St. Louis carries the puck during Saturday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

With the victory, SLP improved to 2-2 overall after splitting its two games in the Bill Corbett Memorial Tournament in Potsdam last week.

“Now, we are going to start some league games so things get a little more real,” Spanburgh said. “This Casey McHugh tournament is important to us, so we’re happy to at least get one W out of it. Now we’re going to have games that really matter, so it’s time to push and really keep working as we’ve been doing.”

SLP will host the Northeastern Clinton Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks, which are 0-4 overall, will travel to Salmon River at 5 p.m. on Friday.