WEST CHESTER – When a team records 14 penalties, it usually isn’t a recipe for success.

That wasn’t the case for the Cape Cod Whalers, however, in their second game of the USA Hockey Tier I 18U Youth National Championships.

Despite 13 trips to the penalty box in the first two periods alone, including two spells of being down two men, the Whalers used a four-goal third period to pull away from the Dallas Stars Elite and secure a 5-2 victory.

Cape Cod head coach Andrew Orpik acknowledged his team’s special teams and the play of his goalie as the keys to their latest victory.

“I think we relied heavily on our penalty kill,” Orpik said. “Our goaltender Matt Lane was unbelievable, especially on the penalty kill but all game I thought he played really well.”

“I think our guys did a good job binding together and weathering the storm a little bit and maybe more so getting back to what I would call our typical game in the third period of pretty simple, fast hockey,” he added.

As the one between the pipes during a penalty kill of seven and a half straight minutes, Lane called it “pretty crazy, but a lot of fun.”

“The intensity was flowing through me, even though I kind of took a penalty I wanted my team to know I’m behind them stopping pucks,” he said. “I wanted them to feel the intensity that I had.”

Deadlocked at one heading into the third, three straight scores from Evan Googins, Jay O’Brien and Jack Rathbone gave the Whalers a lead they would not relinquish. 

Asked what the difference was in the final period, Orpik acknowledged the obvious: his team remained disciplined.

“To go into the third and come out 5-2 just shows the strength we have as a five-on-five team and even on the power play,” Orpik said. “I think our ability to stay out of the box with the depth we have allows us to roll three lines, get all six D involved and really get our game to where we think we can compete with anybody.”

The goals for the Stars came courtesy of Ethan Harrison and Anthony Bilka.

Even at 2-0, Orpik knows his team has to remain focused on the task at hand.

“I don’t try to focus on ‘OK we can sort of coast our way in,’” he said. “I don’t think you wanna afford yourself an opportunity to lay an egg in a game, go 2-1 and maybe not be playing the right game for that fourth game if you’re lucky enough to play it.” 

Despite a limited number of practices as a team, Lane is excited at the direction he and his teammates are heading.

“I think we just have to stay with what we’re doing right now,” he said. “We’re playing crisp, hardnosed hockey right now and I’m proud of my team. I think we have a lot going for us right now.”