Huntington Beach hockey can’t cash in against Servite

The first period of the Huntington Beach High hockey game on Saturday was a microcosm of the entire contest.

Huntington Beach outshot Servite by a two-to-one margin in that frame, but it was left with a two-goal hill to climb. After firing 18 shots on the net in the opening period, the Oilers had to be disappointed with the outcome.

Then they were unhappy with the final result, feeling that they had left points on the table. Despite an abundance of scoring chances, the Oilers suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Friars at the Rinks Lakewood Ice.

Huntington Beach put 42 shots on goal, but the Oilers (0-3-1-0, two points) had trouble putting away their opportunities. Friars goaltender Tyler Kitchen proved tough to beat on the first shot, but the rebounds were often left in dangerous areas.

“Tyler Kitchen played a great game today,” said Tucker Massura, who had two goals for the Friars. “He just kept us in the game. If it wasn’t for him, we would have been losing that game because they had way more shots than us, way more opportunities.”

Huntington Beach outshot Servite, 42-24. Although Kitchen was tough to beat on the first shot, his propensity to leave rebounds made him vulnerable, especially on the rush. The Oilers did not commit to crashing the net while coming up the ice, moving the puck along the boards and cycling it in the offensive zone.

“The cycling helps us get more shots, so we like to run it, but then again, this goalie wasn’t really too good with rebounds, so we should have capitalized on it,” Oilers left wing Frank Albano Jr. said.

“[Kitchen] came out really good, and it’s really hard to knock down his confidence, especially when the other team scores first.”

Servite (2-3-0-0, six points) jumped in front, 2-0, nine minutes into the game. Sean Oliu hoisted a backhand past Owen Greene on a two-on-one with Preston Patz.

Massura followed with his first goal four minutes later, finding the top left corner on a power-play. He would score again in the third period, taking the initial shot and tucking in the rebound after skating through the crease.

The Oilers twice cut the deficit to one. Albano was able to stuff the puck in with Evan Stapleton also hacking away on the doorstep. Christopher Mauger drew the second assist.

Following Massura’s second goal, Jake Piekarski was able to lift a loose puck sitting at the side of the net over the right pad of Kitchen. The goal made it a 3-2 deficit for the Oilers with 4:44 remaining.

“I have no problem with the guys’ game,” Oilers assistant coach Berkley Hoagland said. “I thought they did really good. Just some zone entries, I thought, were a little off.

“I thought it was one of the better games that we had played. The guys were pretty fired up on the bench.”

With time running out, Tommy Lang collided into a teammate in the neutral zone. George Colaco went in alone and converted the breakaway.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner