Mason St. Louis and Joe Salandra put on quite a scoring clinic for the Brunswick School hockey team and its fans during its game against Upper Canada College on Jan. 4 at Hartong Rink.

The St. Louis, Salandra connection accounted for five goals and four assists, leading to another convincing win for the Bruins, who look like a team on a mission.

St. Louis recorded a hat trick with one assist, while Salandra registered two goals and three assists to power Brunswick past Upper Canada College, 6-2. The victory raised Brunswick’s record to 13-0-2, before it lost to Upper Canada College the next day (Jan. 5) at Hartong Rink, 5-1, so the Bruins’ outstanding record to start the season is 13-1-2. In Saturdays’ triumph versus Upper Canada College, which hails from Toronto, Canada, the visitors scored first, but it was all Bruins thereafter.

“Even though we got behind by a goal, I liked our opening period,” Brunswick coach Mike Kennedy said. “Falling behind by a goal, we never panic. The team knows that if we stick to the game plan, we’re going to get our chances and we got two in the first and kept pressing in the second and separated a little bit, which was nice.”

Ethan Neller of Upper Canada College scored the game’s first goal 1:02 into the first period, but the Bruins tied the score at 1-1 when senior forward Keegan Kazan, who skates on the Bruins’ first line, scored off assists from linemates Oliver Czaja, a senior and Ben Lombardi, a junior, 12:59 into the opening period.

Salandra, who plays at left wing, gave Brunswick the lead for good at 2-1 with a power play goal with 3:55 remaining in the first period. Freshman defenseman Cameron Minella assisted on the go-ahead goal. Using their decisive speed, the Bruins were quick to the puck, resulting in scoring opportunities/shots on goal. For the first period, the hosts outshot Upper Canada, 17-6.

“One of our strengths is team speed,” Kennedy noted. “We like to get the puck behind their defensemen and put pressure on them. Then we can turn the pucks over and start going to work on our offense and get the pucks to the net.”

Brunswick increased its advantage with a dominant second period. St. Louis, who centers the Bruins’ second line, snapped a shot from the left faceoff circle past Upper Canada College goalie Kaison Wang, making it 3-1 in favor of ‘Wick at the 8:23 mark of the second period.

St. Louis struck again with 1:01 to go in the second period, this time tallying off assists from Salandra and junior right wing Owen Gibbons, putting the hosts on top, 4-1.

Following the victory on Jan. 4, St. Louis spoke of some of the Bruins’ strengths.

“Our speed is a strength and we have a lot of young talent,” St. Louis said. “I think we’ve surprised people early on and we are showing people what we’re about. We are excited about what we have here.”

Just 1:03 into the third period, St. Louis completed his hat trick, giving Brunswick a comfortable 5-1 advantage. Salandra and Czaja were credited with assists on St. Louis’ third tally of the matchup.

“It all starts with our speed,” St. Louis noted. “We have learned throughout the year so far that we are able to win all sorts of different games. I thought we used our speed really well. We got pucks to the net and they ended up going in.”

Salandra sealed the Bruins’ scoring, tallying off a St. Louis pass 5:34 into the final period. Upper Canada scored the game’s final goal late in third period. Junior Dylan Lee-Stack turned in another standout performance in goal for ‘Wick, making 29 saves for the win.

“The boys are moving the puck well, sharing the puck,” Kennedy said. “We have talented players and when they have time and space they can do good things.”

Brunswick is currently ranked atop the NEPSAC standings with a record of 11-0-2. Captains are senior defenseman Blake Stant, senior forward Tucker Spiess, senior forward Alex Melillo and defenseman Jack McCullough, also a senior.

“We have a small senior class but everyone is pulling their weight as far as leadership goes,” Kennedy noted. “On and off the ice they are setting a good example for the younger guys. They have set the standard that we want.”

Said Spiess of the Bruins’ success through their first 14 games: “I wouldn’t say that we’re surprised, but to everyone else that is watching they might see it as a surprise. But we know what’s working and we are going to try to keep this going.”

Spiess also spoke to the squad’s depth as being one of the key factors to the Bruins’ winning ways.

“Most teams they have four lines up front but we roll four lines, the fourth line is out there a lot and that speaks to our depth up front,” he said. “It’s very competitive defensively as well and that keeps guys really focused.”

Said St. Louis: “Our ‘D’ does a great job for us in starting our transition and creating scoring chances for us up front.”

Brunswick is in action again when it hosts Dexter Southfield School on Friday and Saturday at Hartong Rink.