Saline Scores 3 Goals in 56 Seconds to Skate Past Bedford

The swarming Hornet offense claimed another victim Saturday, as Saline scored five goals in the third period to defeat Bedford 6-3 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

DJ Aben scored twice and assisted twice to lead Saline. James Olson scored once and had three assists. Grant Ellis scored and had two assists. Colin Cederna score and assisted. improved to 4-2-1 and 3-0 in the SEC and 3-1-1 in the Metro Conference.

Through two periods, Saline was down 2- despite outshooting the Kicking Mules 20-12.

Saline tied the game at two seconds into the period. From behind the Bedford net, where he was a menace all night, Aben centered the puck. Cederna’s shot was stopped by Olson stuffed the rebound behind Bedford goalie Zane Smith. Less than a minute, the Hornets took the lead. Defenseman Joe Colarossi’s shot from center ice skipped over the Bedford goalie’s pad and Saline took the lead for the first time in the game.

“Until that point, Bedford played a very good game. That goal put them on their heels a little bit. And our guys started doing a lot of the little things that weren’t working for us in the first two periods,” said Saline head coach Drew Denzin.

The Hornet onslaught continued. Nine seconds later, Saline was up 4-2 after Aben backhanded home a rebound of Olson’s shot for the Hornets’ third goal in 56 seconds.

A few minutes later Aben scored his second goal of the nigh on a wrap-around from behind the net.

Bedford made it 5-3 with less than five minutes to play when Kyle Kuhr chipped one over Neil Flavin during a scramble on a Kicking Mule powerplay.

Saline iced it with 3:15 to play. Ellis intercepted a clearing pass near center and sent Cederna up the right wing. Cederna’s wrist shot sailed past the goaiie to make it 6-3.

The game was scoreless after the first period. Bedford’s Graham Goupille scored from Jimmy Schulte. Two minutes into the second stanza. About four minutes later, Ellis tied for the Hornets.

With two minutes to play in the period, Bedford’s Michael Pisanti scored on the powerplay from Dominic Pisanti and Travis Krider.

It was a big night for the Ellis-Aben-Olson line, who scored four of the team's six goals.

"DJ and James have been playing together for years. Last year, we had Seth Giles on their line, and this year we've got another big kid in Ellis on the line. They're playing really well together," said Denzin.

Aben said he thought the line was playing well.

"We work hard and we have good chemistry. There's always room for improvement, though," said Aben. "As a team, we've got three productive lines. If one of our lines has an off night, the other line can pick us up. That's a great advantage."

Saline outshot Bedford 37-17.

Saline hosts Notre Dame at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.