PEABODY — The Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading girls hockey team proved there’s more than one way to win a hockey game. It also learned what could be a valuable lesson going forward into tournament season in that, sometimes, you have to find a way to win the hard ones.

Saturday afternoon at McVann O’Keefe Skating Rink, PLNR gutted out a 5-2 win over a scrappy Beverly/Danvers team.

The Panthers held a 29-17 edge in shots, but PLNR won the battle when it came to hustle, grit, and converting its opportunities.

“Beverly is a gritty team, but we knew what we needed to do today,” said PLNR head coach Michelle Roach. “We knew we wanted to keep where we’re at in the league. We had a mission and knew that Beverly was going to come and battle. I am feeling fortunate that we came out on top.”

Junior assistant captain Ava Buckley had a monster game with two goals and an assist, while freshman defenseman Maura Flaws notched two assists.

Beverly came out battling off the puck drop. Shots for both teams were few and far between. Roach said she knew her team needed to get more shots to the net.

“I thought we came out well, but we weren’t getting enough shots to the net and we weren’t following the shots we were getting,” Roach said. “So, we knew going into the second period we had some adjustments we had to make. “I thought we adjusted after the first period.”

Both teams ramped up the offense in the second period. The adjustments referred to by Roach paid off just a few minutes into the second period when PLNR lit the lamp four times in a 10-minute span. The bad news for PLNR was that Beverly also scored twice in the same span.

PLNR senior captain Catie Kampersal got things started at the 3:54 mark. She slipped a loose puck in the crease between the pads of Beverly goalie Megan McGinnity. Abby McInerney picked up the assist. 

Senior captain Yasmine Giacalone doubled the lead to 2-0 two minutes later when she got a stick on a rebound and tucked it home at the 5:57 mark. Flaws and Shirley Whitmore were credited with helpers.

“Both those first goals were hard-working, we-got-to-get-to-the-net type goals,” Roach said. “We knew that’s what it was going to come down to. They were 100 percent hustle. Beverly does a nice job clearing people and pucks out, so we needed to hustle and had to work hard. Those were huge goals.”

Two minutes later, Beverly cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Meredith Johnston. Clara Cary followed with a goal at the 9:54 mark to tie the game, 2-2.

That’s when Buckley – with a little help from Daniella White –  took charge.

Each team was playing a man down after penalties at the 2:50 mark. When the penalties ended, Daniella White flew out of the box toward the net. After dodging an official, she tracked down a puck that had been cleared by Beverly. White picked up the puck at the side of the net and slid the puck back to Buckley, who was streaking in toward goal. Buckley ripped a high wrister under the crossbar to make it 3-2, PLNR. 

“Great read by Daniella White coming out of the box,” Roach said. “She had great patience to see Ava Buckley come flying in. It was a perfect pass and Ava was a million miles an hour to get that on net and get that in.”

But Buckley wasn’t done. Less than a minute later, she outhustled a Beverly defender and picked her pocket, firing another bullet under the crossbar to make it a 4-2 game.

“Her patience on the read on that to know instead of shooting straight on her to pull it off to the side and then throw it in was a great play,” Roach said.

Alexa Pepper (from Eleni Spack and Buckley) added an insurance goal with 3:55 remaining in regulation. Beverly pulled McGinnity for an extra skater with two minutes to go and gave PLNR goalie Alyse Mutti some anxious moments. But as she had done the whole game, Mutti was rock solid.

“She made a lot of big saves, especially considering people know they have to create chaos in front of our net and they did a nice job of doing that with the 29 shots,” Roach said. “Alyse is a very strong goalie and she was pushing people out of the way and she played very, very well and kept us where we needed to be. A lot of those saves she makes, I don’t know how she does it, but she finds the way through.”

PLNR (11-1 overall, 11-0 NHL) has another challenge Wednesday when it travels to Larsen Arena to take on Winthrop at 6:10 p.m.

“Larsen is a tough place to play and they are going to be ready,” Roach said. “So it’s going to be another battle.”