ORONO – After turning the third period into their own personal air hockey game, the Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks came away with an emphatic 9-1 high school ice hockey victory over Old Town at Alfond Arena Tuesday night.

The Black Hawks’ top line of center Luke Fitzpatrick, right wing Jeremy London, and left wing David Carmichael accounted for seven goals and six assists as Houlton-Hodgdon notched its second nine-goal game of the season.

The 2-2 Black Hawks have already equaled their victory total for all of last season.

“I think we might have had seven goals total in the two games we won last year, so this is awesome,” said Carmichael. “We’ve come a long way the last two seasons.”

London led the way with the first hat trick of his high school career and an assist on another goal. Carmichael had two goals and three assists while Fitzpatrick had two goals and one assist.

Fitzpatrick helped set up the initial goal of the game as he snagged an errant clear-out pass near the right faceoff circle, skated two strides toward the net, and fired off a chest-high shot just five minutes into the game. Old Town goalie Jason Karam made the shoulder save, but the shot ricocheted into the left corner and back out toward Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick managed to put part of his stick on the puck and redirect it slightly to Carmichael, who was stationed about 10 feet in front of the net. Carmichael slapped it low to the center of the net and just under Karam to make it 1-0 with 9:45 left in the first period.

The Black Hawks made it 2-0 just over a minute and a half later when Ben Carton, a left wing on the second line, took a pass from center Tyler Hipsley near the right circle and fired a high slap shot over Karam’s shoulder and into the right corner of the goal.

After the second intermission, it was shooting gallery time as the Black Hawks unleashed a 23-shot barrage in the third period en route to 41 total shots in the game.

“It took us awhile to get going as a line, but by the third period, we were working pretty good,” said Fitzpatrick, who came back to Houlton after a year at Presque Isle High School.

Old Town managed 11 shots, 10 of which were saved by Hawks goalie Brandon Carmichael.

“We’re young defensively and it hurt us,” said Old Town coach Dave Danielson. “It was just one of those nights. Houlton pressured our zone real well. They were covering every lane and jumped on every mistake we made.”

The lone goal for the 0-3 Indians was scored by junior third line forward Josh Buzzell, who scored unassisted on a breakout down the left side with 12:18 left in the game.

Houlton-Hodgdon took a 3-0 lead on a bizarre scoring play with 4:04 left in the second period as a pass from behind the net to Old Town defenseman Jimmy Bergeron, who was set up just in front of Karam and the goal, slid under Bergeron’s stick and right to David Carmichael, who was four feet in front of Bergeron. Carmichael simply flipped the puck back and into the net before either Bergeron or Karam could react.

The only other third-period goal not scored by the Hawks’ top line was the last, by third line left wing Chris Weber off an assist from Carton with 4:03 to play.

Black Hawks 9, Indians 1

Houlton-Hodgdon (2-2) 2 1 6 – 9

Old Town (0-3) 0 0 1 – 1

First period – 1. HH, D. Carmichael (L. Fitzpatrick), 5:15;. 2. HH, B. Carton (Hipsley), 6:51. Penalties: HH, Hipsley, hitting after whistle, 11:51; OT, Buzzell, hitting after whistle, 11:51; OT, Millett, interference, 12:32

Second period – 3. HH, D. Carmichael (unassisted) 10:56. Penalties: HH, McPartland, tripping, 1:20; OT, Buzzell, interference, 1:32; HH, McPartland, elbowing, 4:53; HH, D. Carmichael, interference, 10:59

Third period – 4. HH, London (D. Carmichael) 1:27; 5. OT, Buzzell (unassisted) 2:32; 6. HH, L. Fitzpatrick (London, Sussman) 4:53; 7. HH, L. Fitzpatrick (unassisted) 5:19; 8. HH, London (D. Carmichael, L. Fitzpatrick) 8:50; 9. HH, London (D. Carmichael) 10:36; 10. HH, Weber (B. Carton) 10:57. Penalties: OT, Dupuis, holding, 13:51

Shots on goal: Houlton-Hodgdon 10-8-23-41; Old Town 4-4-3-11

Goaltenders: Houlton-Hodgdon, B. Carmichael (11 shots-10 saves); Old Town, Karam (33-27), Turcotte (8-5)

Power-play Opportunities: Houlton-Hodgdon 0 of 3; Old Town 0 of 2

Attendance: 328